WARNING: If A Friend Posts or Emails Looking for Emergency Money...

[Pipp]

There's a phony post supposedly from Alicia/JadeIcing on the Yahoo Group where the Moderators will gather in an emergency saying she had taken an unexpected vacation to 'London, United Kingdom' and was mugged at gunpoint and needs money to settle her hotel bill.

I don't know how they managed to log in with it appearing to be from her account, but it is a common scam in recent days and just another bunch of off-shore crooks.

They had been targeting Facebook (gleaning info from profiles and comments from friends, etc) and they seem to be invading GMail and Yahoo Groups and Lord knows what else.

NEVER send funds anywhere without direct voice contact with the intended receiver.

And avoid registering for ANYTHING requiring your name and password unless you're VERY sure it's totally legitimate.

Just a friendly reminder!


sas :bunnydance:

 

[Pipp]

PS: Just to be clear, in all probability they do not actually have access to Alicia's account, they're just using her address in the 'return' line making it appear that way. Thus they're using the Yahoo Group hoping for correspondence to be conducted there.

Its most likely a 'phishing' scheme, not 'hacked' per se.

In most cases they're gathered personal info on people and they're including it in the text making it appear to be legit -- eg: they have Alicia's signature attached which lists her husband and pets. They could have just as easily used those names in the text of the message.

It's certainly one of the more clever scams out there.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[TinysMom]

I thought she was sending it to me as a joke - that someone else had sent it to her!

 

[NZminilops]

I just logged on here to find out what that was about as I just got the email too...

Hello!

I'm sorry I didn't inform you about my traveling... am presently in London, United Kingdom on short vacation and as i write to you now.. its unbelieveable am stuck here,got mugged at gun point on my way to the hotel and my money,credit cards,phone and other valuable things were taken off me at gun point, thanking Almight God for save keeping my passport., i really need your urgent assistance quickly ? I JUST NEED SOME FEW HUNDREDS $$$ TO SORT OUT MY HOTEL BILLS AND i promise to refund it back to you once i get home cause i still have some cash in my account but i cant access any here right now ,already cancelled all my cards immediately after the muggers took my things off me!!! still at the public internet library where am making use of the free internet access, i will forever be greatful if you can help me,Waiting to hear from you quickly cos my flight leaves in few hrs but need to sort the hotel bills and please save me from been embarrassed.

Thanks.


Kinda funny as it doesn't look at all how Ali types. Glad to know it's not real.

 

[JadeIcing]

Ugh since they seem to be sending it to everyone in my addy book I will have figure out what is going on.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

Well Ali i am glad that you didnt sneak away on vacation and get mugged!!!!!! I hate these scammers , they seriously need to get a life

 

[Gordon]

That's a clever twist on the many online scams. I haven't seen this one, before.

Most of them are ridiculous claims of millions of money that you can share if you provide your bank account info. This particular scheme is more sophisticated, but still crazy, since of course the real life friends would see through it, and also make sure to verify the validity.

 

[missyscove]

The elementary school where my mom works got hit with one of these a few years ago, except the email went out from the principal to everyone in his address book.

 

[Elf Mommy]

Ali has too many bunnies to care for to sneak away anywhere SOMEONE here would know of her vacation plans and who was taking care of the rabbits. LOL

 

[JadeIcing]

Elf Mommy wrote:

Ali has too many bunnies to care for to sneak away anywhere SOMEONE here would know of her vacation plans and who was taking care of the rabbits. LOL

That's what I said.

 

[Happi Bun]

This whole situation frightens me! To think someone can do that. :nerves1

 

[JadeIcing]

First change password. They set it so any emails get forwarded to them. So go into your settings and check if they have it sending somewhere else and unclick. Mine were getting sent to [email protected] which yea I don't have that email. I think if you don't change your password they than go back in and reply so that it comes from your email. The email to report the fake account is [email protected] 

 

[DeniseJP]

Scary stuff!

Thank you for the post and glad to hear Ali is OK - I hate those phishing schemes.

Denise

 

[NorthernAutumn]

As a reminder to everyone for internet safety...
This sort of thing often comes along with forwarding messages to friends and colleagues:

FROM http://www.hoax-slayer.com/#foward-responsibly

Privacy and Security:
If you forward an email to multiple recipients in the normal way, recipients will be able to easily view each other's email addresses. The email is likely to be forwarded many more times and it will carry an expanding list of email addresses along with it, including those of your friends and family. Some of your recipients may not appreciate the fact that their private email address has been clearly revealed to dozens or hundreds of total strangers.

Ultimately, this list of email addresses may well find its way into the hands of spammers who will send you and other people on the list irritating and intrusive junk email.

I go to a lot of trouble to protect my private email address from spammers, so I do tend to get irritated when I am forwarded an email and realize that my email address has been blasted across cyberspace to dozens of strangers without my permission and its continued transmission is totally beyond my control.

Luckily, there are a couple of very easy steps you can take to protect the privacy of your recipients and help to reduce spam. Firstly, be sure to remove any previous email addresses displayed in a message before you forward it. Secondly, be sure to use the Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) function of your email program when forwarding a message to multiple recipients.

Protecting your own email address:
Even if you do remove previous email addresses and use BCC, you need to be aware that your private email address might well end up being sent onward and displayed in email inboxes across the planet. Once you click the "Send" button, you have very little control over where or to whom your email address is subsequently displayed. However, you can reduce the risk by asking your recipients to remove your email address before forwarding. You could also use a throwaway email account just for forwarding purposes.

---------------------------------------
I know that sometimes peoples personal signatures come along with their forwarded emails, so I can see how an unscrupulous somebody messing with unsuspecting person's account may have got a hold of Alicia's signature.

As it is challenging to remove your own signature from emails the you yourself forward, I would suggest that it might be wise to do as the pro above stated, and use the suggested tactics to decrease the possibility of being scammed.

So sorry this happened, Ali. I was reading about another gal whose Facebook was highjacked in a very similar scheme . What a mess!

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Woooh that's awful!!
I'm glad I just changed my facebook password the other day.

This scam has been appearing on the horse forum I’m on too… Not sure if their accounts were hacked, or what…

Emily

 

[Nela]

thank you for posting! I will keep an eye out. :shock:

 

[Baby Juliet]

Didn't think of it before but someone in London could have called the police and than email to ask where to send the funds. Maybe they could catch the guy when he tries to collect.