Don't believe "MY TERRIBLE SITUATION" email from friend/family

[Dizneydaz]

Hi just wanted to post that my Dsis just texted me to not believe an email that had been sent from her computer.

The title (on the 1st one) is "My Terrible Situation"

In the email it says she made a last minute trip to UK and was mugged and lost all her money, credit cards, and cell phone. It goes on to say the hotel manager won't let her leave since she can't pay. It says she needs my urgent help!

Thing is I see my Dsis everday and I know she's not in England!

It looks like everyone on her contact list got 2 emails from her. One is on the stationary she has for all her emails and one has no stationary. The emails don't say what to do to help her out but maybe they'll be another one sent with more info.

Also, her contact list and all her emails in her Inbox have disappeared from her computer.

I told her she needed to contact AT&T and see what they say.

The emails were both date stamped before 6 a.m. this a.m.. She found out when her 2 sis-in-laws called her this a.m about her trip to the U.K.

Has anyone else had this happen to them, and if so, did your computer get infected from the emails received? Also were there anymore emails about how to contact her to help? I did send her an email after this happened but she didn't receive it. So it looks like all her emails are being intercepted.

Wasn't sure where to post this but figured "Budget" was a good place since this may involve a scam of some kind.

 

[ilovediznee]

YES, it is a big SCAM! One of my employees rec'd this from an old friend she hadn't spoken to in years. At my urging, I told her to contact the person or a relative of hers. She did and found out the person was fine, wasn't in England, etc.

 

[Kay1]

It happened to me a long time ago. I came home from a short trip and had at least a hundred e-mails returned to me. I had a virus that contacted all my contacts and tried to infect them. It was a huge problem for my husband to fix. I despise people who design these things.

 

[Dizneydaz]

But do you know what is the scam? I've already deleted the emails from my computer.

 

[2binak]

But do you know what is the scam? I've already deleted the emails from my computer.

The scam is that they want your friends & family to wire money to "you" to help get "you" out of the "terrible situation". If a family member or friend takes the bait and answers them, they will provide that person with a location to wire the money to. Once they get the money, they're gone...and onto scamming the next person using someone else's e-mail address.

 

[Stacy_C]

My daughter (age 9) was on facebook one day and the chat box popped up with the same story, but it was coming from our former pastor! She came and told me what he said (word for word like the OP's post) and we were feeling terrible for him. I asked her what her response was and she told him she would pray for him and Mrs. Jan (his wife). His response: "Well, I really just need money".

We knew right then and there that he would have NEVER responded in such a manner and that if he were stranded in England with no money and no way home, he would not be on Facebook asking a 9 year old for money! He would be getting help from his son (who is a doctor). Another church member (Becky) had the same Facebook conversation with our former pastor on the same day. She figured out it was a hoax when she decided to "test" Bro. Elmer by asking him the names of her 2 brothers. Bro. Elmer has known Becky's family for probably 30 years. He would have definitely known the brothers' names with no hesitation or doubt. Of course, he didn't know the names.

Anyway, his facebook account had been hacked. He deleted his account completely.

 

[LilyWDW]

There is also a phone version of this scam, usually targeting older people. What they do is call and say they are a family member (your grandson for example). It's the same story that they are away and need help to get home for some reason. They ask for you to wire money for them... and then you never see your money again.

ALWAYS check before you wire money to anyone! Have a question or two you can ask your "relative" to verify they are who they say they are. If it sounds fishy, it most likely is.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Interesting! What's funny about this one is that the email wasn't even signed (I guess they didn't get her name from her info) and there hasn't been anyway to send money yet.

Biggest deal is all her emails and contacts are not gone. She's contacting carrier to see about getting them back. I really can't believe ANYONE ever falls for this. I guess they do or they wouldn't send them out.

 

[Karenj2]

That happened to a friend of mine who is currently living in Sweden, so it was a bit more plausible, except for some of the things it said (She's a very frugal person, so she wouldn't be staying at a high end hotel - she'd more likely be camping...)

Anyway, I (and a bunch of other friends), ended up sending her a note via facebook, and she let us know that her email had indeed been hacked. The worst part for her was that they changed her password, so she was unable to get in!

 

[LAH LAH]

There is also a FaceBook scam out there too.

I had a friend who's account was compromised and someone was chatting with his friends saying he was stuck somewhere and needed them to wire money.

He had to start a new account.

ETA: (sorry, I didn't know womone had already posted about the FB scam)

 

[Ress76]

Happened to my gf from Edmonton a while ago. FB chat popped up, and I had honestly read about this maybe 2 days before, so I gave her a hard time about being up in the middle of the night (for her!) and the scammer went on and on abotu how she and her husband were in London etc etc. Now, I had her FB page opened up to where she had been out with her gfs the night before, so I cut it short, said I was broke, and emailed the whole thing to her. It was quite a mess for her to get straightened out.

 

[Dizneydaz]

That's what's happened to my Dsis, sort of. I got another email from her (LOL) but while it's her email name, it's a different .****. She tried to access that one with her regular password and can't get in. Her real email account still has her password but there are no emails there (and the contact list is gone, of course)

I sent her a test email and she still isn't getting them. The *($#*(%$# hackers must be redirecting her emails to the account they set up.

I did get an email back asking me to wire $2800 to her ASAP. I told "her" to stay where she is that I would send some asap. Funny thing is my DSis knows I don't have that kind of disposable income.

Just in case the same thing should happen to my account I saved all my unsaved emails to a folder so I'll have them. And I've gone through and deleted all the contacts I don't need, just in case.

 

[akcire]

My husband is a member of the frequent flyer forum flyertalk, and this same SCAM has been floating around for a while. Most of the members have reported that their co-worker/friend is trapped in England or Spain.

 

[Let'sGoFlyAKite]

This happened to a friend of mine, and It almost worked, because they went on vacation, and the wife is originally from Germany. So I could see people believing it. But they found out when a friend called them to check on them and they were shocked. The husband actually had to change all his passwords, and everything.

 

[Dizneydaz]

I just sent my "Dsis" and email asking her for her hotel name and room number so I can arrange to get her the money. Waiting to hear back.

 

[Stacy_C]

I just sent my "Dsis" and email asking her for her hotel name and room number so I can arrange to get her the money. Waiting to hear back.

Keep us posted!

 

[Green Tea]

A checker at the grocery store was telling me as I was checking out that she was working a lot of overtime because her old friend had sent an email and had lost his money overseas, had to use it for something, and now couldn't get home. People fall for this stuff; that's why scammers keep sending it.

 

[Let'sGoFlyAKite]

I just sent my "Dsis" and email asking her for her hotel name and room number so I can arrange to get her the money. Waiting to hear back.

HAAAAHA! I wish there was a "LIKE" button!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Haven't heard back from "Dsis" yet.

Just had my real Dsis check her email settings and sure enough all her emails where be forwarded to a new email account with same name and different ending (yahoo.com BTW). Funny thing is her carrier couldn't tell to do this, I did. She's still waiting for the next level up tech to call her back about getting her emails and contacts back.

HAAAAHA! I wish there was a "LIKE" button!

Thanks. I know I shouldn't respond but I can't resist.

 

[SaraJayne]

That's what's happened to my Dsis, sort of. I got another email from her (LOL) but while it's her email name, it's a different .****. She tried to access that one with her regular password and can't get in. Her real email account still has her password but there are no emails there (and the contact list is gone, of course)

I sent her a test email and she still isn't getting them. The *($#*(%$# hackers must be redirecting her emails to the account they set up.

I did get an email back asking me to wire $2800 to her ASAP. I told "her" to stay where she is that I would send some asap. Funny thing is my DSis knows I don't have that kind of disposable income.

Just in case the same thing should happen to my account I saved all my unsaved emails to a folder so I'll have them. And I've gone through and deleted all the contacts I don't need, just in case.

Though this won't help your sister now, for future reference, you can always print out a copy of your contact list (email addresses) to keep for situations like this.

While it's a pain in the butt to enter all of them again, it can end up being a priceless copy if something would happen to your computer.