"New" scam discovered

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.

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:09 pm

It certainly isn't new around here. Hit this link clicky and scroll all the way to the bottom for this tidbit:

Quote:

NEW scam. Be aware. Headlined “Help” the sender’s e-mail says, “Vacationing in Madrid . . . robbed at my hotel . . . cash and credit cards stolen . . . need you to loan me $2,500 to settle hotel bill . . . manager won’t let me out until I do . . . and my return flight leaves in a few hours . . .” It was received by a Long Island realty broker.

Someone might want to take the opportunity to leave a comment and let readers of Ms. Adam's column know how this scam happens so they can avoid this.

Baiting Guru Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 5905

She hasn't set the context very well for this scam which will leave many readers scratching their heads as to how this scam works.

As far as I know this scam could only possibly be successful when a scammer sends a mail convincing the victim to give them their EMail password. Usually posing as an employee from the victims Email provider.

Once in the victims inbox they send everyone in their address book a mail along the lines of - help I've been robbed, fallen ill (etc) in a foreign country please send money by Western Union/Moneygram.

They surely have to pose as someones friend for such a script to work? Maybe I'm being naive.

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:32 pm

4X1X9 wrote:

a scammer sends a mail convincing the victim to give them their EMail password

Exactly so. The scammer phishes the victim's email login, gets into the box, and changes the password so the real owner can't get back in to warn anyone of the scam. Then the scammer sends an email to everyone in the real owner's contact list with this "I'm stranded. Send money" story. This is a particularly pernicious scam because the email appears to be coming from someone the the intended target knows and, therefore, is likely to trust. The whole mess can be avoided if people will be aware and follow a few simple rules such as never handing their password over to a stranger - even if they claim to be associated with their email provider.

The writer of the article suggests this is a "new" scam. Those of us who have been hanging around eater for awhile know better but that is not the key point. The point the writer fails to make is how to avoid having one's email account hacked.

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 7101 Location: Yes

This is Cindy Adams, the NY Post gossip queen. She is like, 80 and probably doesn't even write her column anymore. She's not going to comprehend or appreciate any of the finer points of what you could hope to teach her. I doubt many of her readers would either.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Jun 2012 Posts: 19

A friend of mine had his smartphone stolen about 18 months ago. On it were his log in details for a social networking site. While I was on this social networking site. I got a chat message form "my friend" claiming he was on holiday in Spain and had been robbed at the airport. I was immediately suspicious, and asked him (the scammer) if he was still playing the guitar in a local pub , when he got back from holiday. The scammer said "Yes my friend I will see you there next Saturday." (the pub has been closed for 3 yrs)

Just a warning to people with smartphones. Don't keep yourself logged into social networking sites, and don't use your primary email address on them either. Better to set up an email addy just for the phone. Wink