Important Notice. Please read.

[Grannie G]

If you receive an email from a TP Member, saying she is stranded in a hotel in Europe having been robbed, asking for money to help her pay her bills and get home, please do not reply even to check if it`s genuine.

This has been reported to the police.

 

[grove]

Thank you for the Warning ! ! !

Many Thanks for the Warning Grannie G & its a very BAD SCAM & will be extra careful when on T P !

On a much subject love your Photo & Dhieren on the New T P Flyers ! Have been putting them to good use in my area & taking them to my Pharmacy & gave 1 to my friend

Hope you have a good day

Love Grove x

 

[BeckyJan]

Grove:
Just to say TP is well protected.

It is likely to happen if you have divulged your email address to someone else and that person has had their computer hacked at some time. Then the scammer has access to your email.

 

[SWMBO1950]

Thank you for the warning - there is such scum abount in this world

 

[simonphillips]

A horrible scam. BT recently had their email lists hacked and suddenly spam appeared apparently from ME! My laptop has more protection than average and the contacts attacked by the spammers were the ones stored by BT, not the ones on my laptop. I am now with SKY

 

[nitram]

"...suddenly spam appeared apparently from ME!..."

Spoofing a sender is trivial.

The practice of not using BCC and continually forwarding joke emails etc can lead to the spread of valid addresses.

 

[nitram]

"...BT recently had their email lists hacked..."

Storing contacts on the Yahoo server is optional.

 

[Grannie G]

This email was from BT which might explain it.

I do not respond to any Round Robin rubbish.

 

[Skye]

Hi everyone.

IT WAS ME!

Everyone on my contacts list received an email saying I was stranded in Madrid, had been mugged and my money and cards stolen. Please sent money.

I promise you I am not in Madrid, nor have I been mugged, so please don't send money!

Not only that, but the spammer cloned my account, so all emails checking up on me went to him, not me. And he has wiped my contacts list so I can't let people know I'm OK.

I've been on the phone to BT all morning, and they've reset my personal details, but it's a major hassle. I now have to change my passwords for everything, in case that have copies. Nightmare!

Please, if you were on my contcats list, will you email me so I can save your email address again

And thanks Sylvia for bringing this to people's attention/

 

[Grannie G]

Hello Hazel

Do you know if the email addresses of those who received these scam messages are at risk? Do we need to take any precautions?

 

[Skye]

I don't think there's any risk to anyone else, Sylvia. He'll have the email addresses, but not their passwords. Goodness knows how he got mine.

The police are working on it, we now have a PO box number for people to send money, though I doubt if anything will come of it.

Even more worryingly, he says he still has his passport to use as ID. The police say it's just part of the scam, but I'm worried in case he has managed to forge my passport.

 

[Grannie G]

It`s scary.

 

[jan.s]

Dear Hazel
It's good to know you're safe and well. What a horrible experience for you. I was worried last week, because someone used my email address to send out emails, but that is nothing compared to yours. I did find out that my problem came from Bulgaria!

Good luck
Jan

 

[burfordthecat]

Hi Hazel

I tried to send you a PM this morning but your box is full.

Carina

 

[Isabella41]

Unfortunately this is not a new scam. About 18mths ago 3 work colleagues got emails puporting to be from a mutual colleague saying she was stranded in Madrid. Email said her handbag had been stolen and that she was in a hotel lobby with no way to pay the bill and no way of getting home. My poor colleague really believed it as concidentially Carole was off on leave at time the email came through. Ann was about to help but thankfully she showed the email to the girl sitting beside her who smelled a rat. Carole's husband was duly contacted.Carole was sitting beside him at home in Belfast and has never been to Madrid. She tried to access her emails and sure enough she couldn't. She'd been hacked. While the hackers wrecked havoc on her contacts list no one lost any money.

 

[Skye]

That sounds like exactly the same scam.

I don't think any of my friends has lost money either, though one, who's not really up in computers, went into the police station in tears to ask how she could get money to me. Fortunately I'd already contacted them.

They're very clever, the people whose emails to me went to the cloned account were given the PO box no, and told to email when it had been sent. Si if no-one sends, they won't go near the box.

I'm just waiting for the police to come round, they want a full statement from me. An entire day wiped out.

Still, it could be worse, no money has gone. I've checked my bank account, they had obviously tried to get in, because I had to go through umpteen extra security checks. Thank goodness it is secure, and I've changed my password and security details.

 

[scarletpauline]

Whatever next! Thanks for the warning.
Pauline

 

[TinaT]

I got the e mail in my box today. Thankfully my security programme warned me that it was a dubious e mail I opened it because the name of the poster made me think of a poster here on TP but the content was so blatently a scam that I deleted it immediately.

TinaT

 

[Tender Face]

Well, Hazel – given the number of frantic phone calls and emails been flying around this afternoon, I guess you should know how much you are cared for! No laughing matter ..... but one bright spark amongst a group of us who received the scam did point out the use of the word ‘vacation’ – absolutely not your style, whatever distressed state you were allegedly in. Hopefully most people have recognised it as a scam .... so sorry at least one of your friends has been distressed by it – and a good few more worried for you until we recognised it for what it was - not to mention all the hassle for you.

I’m afraid my spam filter didn’t block it – presumably because I have you as a ‘contact’ so it recognised the email address it had come from but couldn’t possibly tell it wasn’t actually ‘you’ sending it?

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. “Swines” is about the most polite word I can think of right now – and that’s unfair to pigs!

Well done getting alerts round so quickly and thinking of others ...... may I recommend a particularly strong G&T this evening.

Love, Karen, x

 

[Izzy]

Hi everyone.

IT WAS ME!

Everyone on my contacts list received an email saying I was stranded in Madrid, had been mugged and my money and cards stolen. Please sent money.

I promise you I am not in Madrid, nor have I been mugged, so please don't send money!

Not only that, but the spammer cloned my account, so all emails checking up on me went to him, not me. And he has wiped my contacts list so I can't let people know I'm OK.

I've been on the phone to BT all morning, and they've reset my personal details, but it's a major hassle. I now have to change my passwords for everything, in case that have copies. Nightmare!

Please, if you were on my contcats list, will you email me so I can save your email address again

And thanks Sylvia for bringing this to people's attention/

Hi Hazel - I got one and I immediately thought it was a scam. I knew for certain the grammar was too bad to be yours!!!!!