hacked!

zeeeb

Registered User
So, my sister's email was hacked... My sister lives in the UK, and we all live in Australia. The hacker sent everyone in her address book (including my parents) an email saying she was in spain, and she'd be attacked and robbed, and needed us to send money so that she could fly back to the UK.

A barrage of phone calls all weekend ensued with a frazzled mum, not accepting that it was fraudulent, although all the logic lead to the fact that it was a fraud. My dad, was initially sucked in by it, madly making phone calls to the consulate etc. who told him not to send money, then making phone calls to me, who told him it was definitely a fraud, and not to send money.

Then mum carried on all weekend in a panic that her daughter was harmed. Amazing how these people cause so much stress. Everyone under 40, we all knew instantly, and it was clear that she was hacked. We knew she wasn't in spain, we knew the language used in the emails was not her own, but to my parents, they just wouldn't believe it until they physically heard her voice.

Yes, this is the beginning of the alzheimers, but also, just the beginning of old age I guess. Technology moves so fast, and it always seems that the most vulnerable are caught out by these dodgy scamming hackers.
 
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jeany123

Registered User
Mar 24, 2012
19,034
0
74
Durham
I can't put into words what I think if the dispicable people who do this sort of thing, They must have no conscience at all, the lowlife obviously don't care what distress and upset they cause, all they are interested in is getting money from vulnerable people ,
I am so sorry that it happened ,


Jeany x
 

rajahh

Registered User
Aug 29, 2008
2,790
0
Hertfordshire
This is so dreadful. My own e mails have been hacked but not like that. The answer is to changeyour password frequently. I know this is a nuisance, but is much safer.

I have a policy to do this now, and so far it has worked.

I also keep a small book with all passwords in it. This I keep nowhere near my laptop so in the event of being burgaled the book is not too hand either. If you are travelling that is a problem but somehow the book could be disguised.

It is horrible we have to take all these precautions.

Jeannette
 

Isabella41

Registered User
Feb 20, 2012
904
0
Northern Ireland
This particular scam has been doing the rounds for a while. I guess they are hoping that they will hit on someone who is actually in Spain. It happened to us at work. A colleague had actually taken a week's leave and was in Alicante for a week. 3 days into her leave 4 of us got the email you described. One of the girls was going to send money and luckily for her she happened to mention it to someone else and before long when we had all checked our messages we realised this may be a set up. We rang our colleague's phone and she was happy as larry on her sunlounger at the pool and very bemused to hear from us. It was the language and mannerisms of speech that made us suspicious. Of course for someone already confused with dementia they would not have this level of skill.
 

LadyA

Registered User
Oct 19, 2009
13,730
0
Ireland
Yep - I've also heard of people being taken in by it. Not elderly or dementia sufferers either!
 

Saffie

Registered User
Mar 26, 2011
22,513
0
Near Southampton
I always Bcc my emails and delete their history as advised to try to avoid hackers - or viruses. Does anyone know if this works?
 

Skye

Registered User
Aug 29, 2006
17,000
0
SW Scotland
Yes, it happened to me.

It was horrible. Because of the work I do locally, several of my contacts were very vulnerable, and were very upset. Close friends and family of course recognised that it was not my style of writing, but not everyone had that insight.

I reported it to the police, and they took it very seriously. A lovely policeman came to see me, and has kept in touch with updates. He has traced the source to Lagos, Nigeria, and apparently a lot of scams originate there. We have no jurisdiction there, so there is nothing he could do. He did offer though to speak to anyone who needed reassurance.

Fortunately, no-one lost any money, but the distress caused to some of my contacts was dreadful. These people are scum.
 

itsmeagain

Registered User
Oct 20, 2010
98
0
So, my sister's email was hacked... My sister lives in the UK, and we all live in Australia. The hacker sent everyone in her address book (including my parents) an email saying she was in spain, and she'd be attacked and robbed, and needed us to send money so that she could fly back to the UK.

A barrage of phone calls all weekend ensued with a frazzled mum, not accepting that it was fraudulent, although all the logic lead to the fact that it was a fraud. My dad, was initially sucked in by it, madly making phone calls to the consulate etc. who told him not to send money, then making phone calls to me, who told him it was definitely a fraud, and not to send money.

Then mum carried on all weekend in a panic that her daughter was harmed. Amazing how these people cause so much stress. Everyone under 40, we all knew instantly, and it was clear that she was hacked. We knew she wasn't in spain, we knew the language used in the emails was not her own, but to my parents, they just wouldn't believe it until they physically heard her voice.

Yes, this is the beginning of the alzheimers, but also, just the beginning of old age I guess. Technology moves so fast, and it always seems that the most vulnerable are caught out by these dodgy scamming hackers.
The people who did that need to suffer, and suffer severely. What`s being done to catch them?
The one thing that will surprise me is if the police are even remotely interested in this.