is this a scam/account hacked?

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 22 Jan 2009 Posts: 1

hi I've been lurking on the boards for a bit so I'm getting paranoid about every random message, and was just wondering if this sounds like a scam or maybe somebody's account was hacked?

The story is, some random person messaged me on msn, I didn't recognise the email, so I asked who it is, based on the nick, it sounds like a girl. Now it's not the first time a completely random person messages me, but normally the msn pic is of some half naked tart, so I know it's some sort of scam/virus, but this one has no pic and sounds like a real person, and not a bot. Plus she doesn't start off with the usual " if you wanna see XXX pics download this extremely suspicious looking file NOW!"

Her msn nick if true indicates that she lives in the town where I used to live. Google turns up nothing, but facebook shows she has 14 mutual friends with me. Problem is, all 14 are people who would add any random person on facebook without a second thought.

So far the conversation is pretty normal sounding and I'm just answering honestly without details in case its a real person. Is there a way for me to determine whether this is a scam/hacked account or just a lonely person?

oh and another thing, she started talking to me pretty much at the exact same time I got two of the usual "See naked pics, download this Virus!" messages from a guy I barely talk to that I know is stupid enough to use those "find out who blocked you" websites. That's one of the things that made me really suspicious in the first place.

Edit: grammar

Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 3:04 pm

We'd really need a lot more information in order to make a determination on this. Have you received actual emails from this person? If so, you might want to PM a mod for advice on posting details. You have her chat ID, I presume, so if you PM those to a mod (to avoid possibly posting details of an innocent person here), they can do further research.

Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 7:49 pm

14 people that you recognize on face book sounds almost legit...
I think that scammers don't really use facebook - but I may be wrong...

Do you recognize her name from your old town?
Was this person an old friend or acquaintance?

How would she have gotten your e-mail ?
Did she address you by name or was it "hello dear"?

I'd not give out any personal details until you were absolutely sure - and remember scammers can take weeks to hint around they need money, sometimes months...

Check the headers on the e-mail, is it showing from the US or is it another country?

I know that trickster gets some e-mail without pictures on initial e-mails, he has to ask for photos...

Does the english sound good?

Answer the e-mail with specific questions, does she answer the questions or ignore them & go on with her script?

Hope this helps -- would be nice if an old friend contacted you Smile

Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 3:48 am

Could I ask, Is this unknown person using your personal e-mail, ISP server details, or simply using a hotmail type account . If he's using your personal MSN account, or a yahoo type program. Have them cancelled.
If you don't want his rubbish, simply ignore him, Even if you have to discontinue your MSN account, and start another one.

But he's not going to waste his time, if you don't bite, to his requests and he will simply move on to his next victim

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:58 am

Ivana wrote:

14 people that you recognize on face book sounds almost legit...
I think that scammers don't really use facebook - but I may be wrong...

Hi Ivana, Actually I am running into more and more romance scammers on Facebook which is pretty unsettling since a lot of people use their real names on there. I know of one scammer who managed to collect about 20 friends that were in the Oil industry or affiliated with a Texas university. He used those "friends" to make his identity look more real. Some of his "friends" got talking to each other and it turned out that at least two of them were being scammed by the guy.

I have a Facebook page, but I only accept friends requests to people I truly know very well. Some people just accept any invitation that comes their way even if they don't really know that person.

is this a scam/account hacked?	View next topic View previous topic