Scam Alert: "I am writing this with tears in my eyes"

[One of Many]

Forward this to folks in your contact lists and shut these jerks down

I've had two friends hit by this scam so I am proactively notifying everyone on my contact list (and posting here) to beware.

It works like this:

A hacker compromises an email account then sends this missive to all of that person's contacts.

------------------------------------

I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and I came down here to London, United Kingdom for a short vacation.unfortunately,we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash and credit card were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.


We've been to the Embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in few hours from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills. Well I really need your financially assistance..Please, let me know if you can help us out?


Am freaked out at the moment!!


--------------------------------------

If you reply to the email they provide a method of wiring money. If sent the hackers disappear with your cash.

In addition they will delete your contacts in your email, then you can't tell others not to send any money.

Watch out for this and let your friends know it is a scam in advance so you and yours are not hit with this scam.

More info here: http://www.google.com/search?q=I%27m+writing+this+with+tears+in+my+eyes+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

It is the number one issue listed on the cyber crimes website for the FBI: http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/e-scams

If you know someone who was hit with this, have them report it to the FBI here: http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx

[Catshrink]

1. Do people still fall for this stuff?

Why would anyone send money to a stranger in response to an email request? A fool and his money....

[hobbit709]

2. Exactly!

[Motown_Johnny]

7. they hack the account and send it to people on the contact list, so you think it is someone you know

so if someone hacked your account and sent it to everyone on your list they would think it came from you

[One of Many]

8. Correct

All it takes is one "nice person" trying to help. A friend of one contact got hit for $2500.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. The email doesn't come from a stranger. That's the trick.

I have two friends this happened to. Everyone in their contacts list was emailed. I got an email from my friend Judy. It said she needed money because she was stuck in London. But I had just seen Judy the day before and knew she wasn't in London.

[ThomasQED]

17. They think the mail is from someone they know

But most people would CALL to see if the family was OK, or probably already know if the family was in London or not.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

26. I'm the IT guy at work who advises on this stuff and the first time I received this myself...

...it actually had me going for a moment. The co-worker whose address was spoofed was just the type of knucklehead who'd get himself into such a mess and not be able to figure his way out. :D

[Uben]

3. I'm not a scammer........

....I am you!

[rucky]

4. !

:rofl:

[AnArmyVeteran]

5. Love it!!! Charles Manson should have used that line.

[malaise]

12. DUzy

:rofl:
But she is a Grifter

[Amaril]

6. Yeah, a friend of mine.........

.....was hit by these guys a month or so ago. I got the same email from her, and since I knew there was no way she would be in Europe without our having discussed it at length first -- or my being invited along for the trip -- I knew it was a scam and called her immediately. She had no clue how they got her - she hadn't been anywhere *weird* on the net recently, runs full virus and spyware scanners 24/7, and hadn't opened any suspicious emails. She had a hotmail account at the time.

[TreasonousBastard]

10. Same here. I got one "from" my brother, who I knew wasn't in London...

and immediately got on the horn to him. He notified Hotmail, his ISP and everyone on his contact list.

His Hotmail account might have been hacked.

[bluerum]

9. that explains why so many of my friends have been mugged in london

[RagAss]

15. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA - This thread is over !!!

[hunter]

11. Everyone who knows me would laugh if they got an e-mail like that.

It's so not me. If the embassy and police were not being helpful my friends and family would be figuring I deserved whatever I was getting. Plus I'd be telling a much better story than "mugged at the park."

[pipi_k]

19. Me too. They know I can hardly travel from one CITY to the next

due to anxiety disorders.

Out of the country? Someplace I'd have to get on a plane to get to?


hahahahahahahaha


They wouldn't even have to call me to know it's bullshit. :7

[ChiciB1]

13. Well, I DON'T Have To Worry AT ALL! I Have NO MONEY To Give! n/t

[madmom]

14. All my friends and relatives know I'm to poor to go to another state much less another country.

[Bitwit1234]

18. If they believe that then

I get constant emails from the FBI telling me they are holding money in reserve that they confiscated and it is mine. They need my bank account number, name and address. So it is mine, they found me why in the devil do they need my name and address.

And of course numerous princes and heads of states also send me emails telling me I have money they just need the same info as above.

[Catshrink]

21. Dear Esteemed Bitwit

I am in possession of a large some of American funds that was left to you by a long lost relation that has died. Pleese forward information containing your bank account numbers, mailing address and I will transmit the funds forthwithe.

Many blessings to you, my dear colleege.

[pipi_k]

22. Oooh, I never got one from the FBI, but

I used to get the princes and heads of states ones a lot.


They haven't sent me any more emails lately, though. Maybe it's because every time they would contact me I would ask them to send me the cash because I don't have a bank account

:7

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. Funny thing.

I happen to have a pile of money and need your help.
but you can trust me, because I am on DU.

[Speck Tater]

20. I got one of those from a friend's actual email address.

Of course I double checked and found out his email account had been hijacked.

I am fortunate in that scams like that cannot possibly victimize me. I'm always so broke I couldn't afford to send 10 cents to anyone, let alone any significant amount of money. Being poor does have its up side.

[wiggs]

23. just got that this morning! Obvious scam because the fellow in question

isn't religious, isn't in London, and can spell better than these guys.

But the email address is correct and has been commandeered. Very clever and chilling.

[Dash87]

24. My dear friend, John McPherson, crashed into the Red Sea.

I have yet to collect my $100 inheritance from him, though. :D

♥

[femrap]

27. Just happened to a friend of mine.....

She had to get a new email address and reenter her contacts. If I responded to her old email address, the hackers had added one letter to it so she never got the reply...they got the reply.

Now I'm getting all kinds of emails for money...like I have any to give.

My friend had just recently returned from Spain...so they used 'Spain' as to where she was stuck. Some of her contacts may not have known she had just returned.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

28. Well, I Can Afford To Help Some People Out

I got an e-mail today alerting me that, despite the fact that I've never been to England, I just won the London lottery and have a million pounds waiting for me. And all I need to do to claim it is just give them a few pieces of identifying information.

I figure that since I've got a million British pounds on the way, I can send a few bucks to help out my poor, suffering friends who are being FORCED to live at a luxury hotel (oh, the horror!) until they can pay the bill (does that mean if they never pay the bill, they never have to leave? If so, I'm totally doing that!)

And once this Nigerian Prince gets a few thousand bucks from me, I'll be ROLLING in dough. I've been assured that once I send a couple thousand dollars to process the paperwork, I will be receiving MILLIONS from Prince Oomfoofoo just to express his gratitude for helping him out of a little jam.

[pipi_k]

29. Just thought of a moral dilemma...

I have a couple of email addresses (one real, the others for junk email).

What if I get an email from myself saying I'm stuck in London and need money ASAP?

Do I send it, or do I let myself languish in a land far far away?



These things aren't always as simple as they sound...

:freak: