Quote:
Originally Posted by DMB
Has anyone come across the scam where the scammer captures someone's email contacts and then sends out piteous emails explaining how the person is travelling abroad, has been mugged and lost everything? S/he needs immediate money to be able to get home.
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Yes, I think that one's pretty common. I received an email from an acquaintance saying she and her family were traveling in Scotland and she was mugged, she lost everything and just needed a couple of thousand dollars to get transportation home and then listed bank details for where to send it. She has a gmail account, so the first thing I did was a search to see if hacking of gmail accounts was common and I learned that it was.
I never did contact my friend -- she and I were both volunteers for a charitable organization and were more 'acquaintances', although I knew I was on her contact list. I'm sure she had enough to do in resolving the mess the hacker(s) created -- and I'm sure she heard from others who got the same message I did.