Email Scam

These scams are very common and haven been going around for several years. Just ignore anything even closely resembling them.

I receive this kind of stuff frequently. I got one once, that said my son was to inherit millions, because he was the only living relative of........whoever. Anyway, i thought, what about my husband, his uncles, grandpa, etc. It is just a scam to get financial info. Delete it as spam.

This scam has many variations, but is pretty common. If you ever get a version that you think sounds plausible, you don't want to answer the e-mail; you want to contact your friend directly.

Yes, people do get fooled, more's the pity.

Funny, my wife got this same email 'from' an aunt who was stranded in London after being mugged, lol.
What isn't so funny is that this particular aunt is known to leave town on a whim, so for about an hour there was a flurry of calls, text and emails trying to confirm. Luckily she was safe at home.

It's been going around for awhile. My husband's facebook got hacked with a similar message, only about London.

This has been going around for about 3 years.

The scary thing for me? My friend WAS traveling to Spain!! I had his cell number and called him. He was fine. His extended family in Spain were beside themselves with worry. Luckily none of them sent money. They called first. Whew.

There are also scams going around telling you they are the barrister for a family member you didn't know you had. And there is millions in unclaimed funds...please send your SSN, bank information and a notarized statement with your picture ID...so we can get the money to you.

There are a ton of scams going on. Even those that claim to be from the FBI. if there are links in the e-mail - wave your cursor/mouse over it and read the bar at the bottom of your screen - you will see where it is REALLY from...pay attention to detail...there are a TON going on from the IRS - since it's tax season...and people don't THINK before they click....so they get scammed. And the GOOD ones from the IRS? the URL in the bar - if you read quickly says http://www.irs.com - or internalrevenueservice.org - but it is NOT correct.

.

I got a chat message from my SIL (who is rarely on facebook) saying the same thing... got mugged, stranded in London, needed me to wire her some money....

Funny thing is... I knew they were stateside... my M. was visiting them for 2 weeks! (This happened a couple of years ago.)

Her fb acct had been hacked, and along with that, her e-mail account.... a hotmail acct, I think?

I have recieved that email multiple times. The last even was from somebody in my email list that I had no idea who they were. I think it was somebody I sold something to years ago. The email acted like I was their best friend.
TOTAL SCAM!!!

it usually means your friend has a virus.

You need to change your email password right away. Your email (or his) has been hacked.

I had a similar thing happened a couple of years ago, only the friend was in London and had a family member who was sick and could I please send money to help help cover th cost of the medical bills. UUUMMMMM Great Britain has socialized medicine. So I called my friend on her landline and she answered at home. I told her what was going on and of course she was mystified. The funny thing is the scammer IMed me from her account while I was on the phone with her. So I played along for a few minutes and asked her how the weather was in London ect. The scammer figured out that I didn't buy the scam. But it took a few hours for my friend to get her email accounts back.

Best advice change passwords often and if you can use a language you don't speak or make up words and use numbers.

If you friend is on facebook message her through facebook and let her know her account has been hacked or call her right away.

Yes, I've received that message too.

I got an email like that from a friend a few months ago, and then soon after that I got an email saying her email had been hacked.

They get your name by hacking the email account of one of your friends, then sending the scam message to everyone in their address book. It has nothing to do with knowing who you are. It happened with one of my friends, who did happen to be in Europe at the time. She was in Italy and it said she had been mugged and was stranded in London. But these things are usually pretty easy to see through, as it doesn't mention anyone they're with or anyone in their family, because the hacker doesn't have that information. A general rule for anyone and everyone is to never wire money or follow links without actually speaking with the friend or their family.

I've heard about this one going on for over a year now. Yes, it is a scam. Did you call your friend? I've heard of some people who called their friend, and couldn't get them, so followed through and sent $. :(

Let the "victim" know what is going on... so they can contact all their contacts and warn them to ignore the emails, and so they can take other steps to trace it/track it or close the account or whatever.

Absolutely fake and never ever wire money without proof. I would rather buy a ticket for my friend to fly home than wire money.

Good tip from Cheryl to mouse over (but not click!) links. Many look legit, but aren't.

Yeah, it's been around for awhile. It originated with facebook messaging. Make sure passwords to all sites you frequent are different. That's how they hack into your accounts. They get your password from unsecured site and try it on your email and facebook, etc.