Ill Cousin in Spain Scam
 

Just received a heart wrenching e-mail from my neighbor and friend who happens to be on the golf course at this time and unaware he is being used in a scam. Message says his cousin is sick and hospitalized in Madrid, etc., etc. Obviously he has been hacked.

This a new slant on the "grandson letter".

These are very crude methods of soliciting money but they can seem real to the unwary.

This is just a heads-up.

So, you're saying ...
 

The name in Spain
is really just a feign?

I got one from a friend that said she was in London and was robbed and could I please send her some money to get back home. I was to call and leave the wiring information with the hotel desk clerk as she was out at the Embassy trying to get a new passport. Sounded very legit except I knew she was at home. And it was because her e-mail account was hacked.

Yup...it's a hacker! Just a variation of one. I had that happen last year and they changed my passwords and some folks believed them (but didn't send the cash). Had dozens of calls to make sure we were fine. Only plus side of this was we got to chat with people we hadn't talked to in ages. I was told these hackers have sophisticated ways of getting e-mail addresses. You can have virus detections etc. but it doesn't help. I wish the "infected" folks well as this is really an aggravation more than anything. Was also told hackers were prolific over the holidays...people were shopping online and some of the sites have these hackers somehow "attached". These people have way too much time on their hands.

This same thing happened to my husband about his cousin who he doesn't see very often. Not being completely computer savy he fell for it. He sent his phone number in a reply and asked his cousin to call him. A guy with a foreign accent called and pretended to be his cousin. He even knew his cousin's wife's name and everything. My husband wised up and told the guy he sent the money by regular mail and he should receive it in a few weeks. He never heard from the guy again.

Thanks for posting this warning. It never ceases to amaze me the cleaverness of some of these scams.

Unfortunately, these people are hard to catch but I wish they were all locked-up for preying on innocent people. Hopefully, some software can be invented to protect people and give the authorities a direct connection to their identity and whereabouts.

That is not a real new scam. It has been going on for quite some time. In fact, our program manager at Seniors vs. Crime had his email hacked into and the same message was sent to all on his email list. We thought it was a test from him. It wasn't a test but a scam.

You don't have to be hacked in order for your e-mail address to be used in a crime. All you have to do is have one of your contacts forward an e-mail from you and NOT clean it up before they send it along. I have repeatedly begged folks on my contact list to use BCC when sending an e-mail to me, if other folks are included in that same e-mail. Some have respected my wishes and some have said they can't find "BCC" in their e-mail program. I cringe every time I get an e-mail forward from someone, and I see all of those addresses, ripe for the picking if that "forward" winds up in the wrong hands. And, of course, you are correct that many businesses that we patronize over the internet can get hacked into at any time. I only use BCC when sending along an e-mail forward or when I send an e-mail to more than one person. How can I feel good about putting all of my friends' and family's e-mail addresses out in cyberspace for anyone to grab?

Cleaning up e-mails was one of the 1st things my kids taught me when we first got a computer. It amazes me how many folks do NOT BCC theirs---even folks I thought would know better. They also taught me to delete those (----) that preceed sentences from the forewarded text. The computer person that had to help us clean up our computer after our hacker did his deed said that even sending those cute little spammy things we all get is how hackers get their contacts. I've begun to delete these and not send them out!!

This is a follow-up on my original post. When my friend returned from golf and opened her e-mail, everything was in Arabic. I don't know the details but she had a heck of a time getting it back to English.

BTW, I mentioned the hackers message was crude. I mean it was obvious it was not written by anyone with a basic knowledge of English.