Note: my personal Email has been compromised

Hello everyone,

I want to let everyone know that I've had my email for over 10 years and most of you that read this forum ARE on my email list so you will be getting this spam mail. I am fine and do not need anything.

This is what is being sent out from my email account and signed with my name. If you do get it, please report it to the fraud section Yahoo. I am so sorry this has happened and my email has been locked, but I worry about everyone else's. So, just take precautions.


THE FOLLOWING SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE FRAUD SECTION OF YAHOO.


Here it is:
Hey,

How you doing? I made a trip to London (United Kingdom) unannounced
some days back, Unfortunately we got mugged at gun point last night! All
cash, Credit card and phone were stolen, we got messed up in another
country, stranded in London, fortunately passport was back in my hotel
room. It was a bitter experience and i was hurt on my right hand, but would
be fine. I am sending you this message cos i don't want anyone to panic; we
want you to keep it that way for now!

Our return flight leaves in a few hours but I’m having troubles sorting out
the hotel bills, wondering if you could loan me some dollars to sort out the
hotel bills and also take a cab to the airport about $1,500. I have been
to the police here, but they aren't helping issues, I have limited means of
getting out of here, we canceled our cards already and made a police
report, I don’t get a new card number till I get back home! So I really
need your help.

You could wire whatever you can spare to my name and present location via
Western union you would find one close to where you stay just visit (
http://www.westernunion.com/locator ) .i have my ID (Passport with me):


Name : Antoinette Hague

Sending Location : London, E3 2DA, United Kingdom.


Once again i want to assure you that your money will be refunded as soon as
i get back home.immediately you have the money transfer,please help me scan
or write out the MTCN Number/Confirmation code given to you at the western
union outlet.i will be waiting anxiously for your positive response.

I await your prompt response.

Antoinette.





A.

I just got your email BEFORE I read this and I knew right away something was not right! I was going to email you and see what is going on. Thank you for posting this on DG and other sites to warn folks. How ridiculous! I wonder who has stolen your email address? UK, huh?

Antoinette, I got one too but still some person who knows you and your friends could spoof the return address to make the email look like it came from you. That looks like a person with too much time on their hands. I hope they get caught and put out of commission.

Karen

Well, it does make me wonder! I'm so tired of stalkers following me to flicker, lurking about..lol They don't know when to leave well enough alone.

Hopefully, it will end here.
A.

I copied the email that I received from these scammers to others via my email to warn them ... just in case.

A friend replied with this information, which I hadn't seen on the news:

there was a version of this reported on the morning CBS news about people pretending to be granchildren calling grandparents saying they were ''too embarrased to call mom or dad'' and'' I am in trouble! can you please send xx$$ to me at whatever...'' ~ What an messed up world the computer has brought us this time...Sadly no grandparent says no to a grandchild.

So for all you grandparents, be aware and pass the word along about these scam operations! Unbelievable!

The ip address in the header info showed a Nigerian location and it was very different from a email from Antoinette. Karen

Check this. http://www.cqcounter.com/traceroute/?query=41.155.58.28

Look at the map near the bottom.

This message was edited Apr 17, 2010 1:31 PM

Interesting IP information. Thanks for sharing that website, Karen! I've gotten other scam email from a similar location. Lots of those emails going around apparently.

Another http://www.westernunion.com/WUCOMWEB/staticMid.do?method=load&pagename=fraudEmergencyScam

Thanks Karen. I got calls from all over the US regarding this scam, my cousin in CA said that she said to herself, "And she didn't take me with her"?, but then decided it didn't even sound like me. Then my DH called and asked me how I liked London, and I told him "it was awful, I got mugged at gunpoint, and hurt my arm", he laughed, I said "didn't you read my email, where's my money?" lol.

The centers where (One where I teach, called and asked if everything was alright, since they had seen me the day before thought the email was strange, but, they said you never know", the the other center called and told me that someone had stolen my password on my email, these people had seen me on Monday, so they knew I was in town. I hope I got word to everyone, if not, I hope no one sent money to these people. One lady responded to the email and she was told that it was me otherwise how would they have her email. But she also said it didn't even sound like me.

What is scarey is that they had to work at it to get my password, and now I can't even get into change it, there are questions you need to answer and I sure don't remember even putting those questions in so I don't know what the answer is, or whomever is scamming also changed my questions. It is the darnedest thing.

Criminy!!! Don't ya wish you could just reach through your computer and wring somebody's neck!!!
I hope they didn't get any vital financial info.

Am thinking more like that could be happening with all those travelers now stranded in London. Imagine the scams to come!

One of the cell phones on my account was cloned and being used in Jamaica. I got a bill for close to $7,000!!! from Sprint for 'international calls' within a three day period.

Freaked me out - I went to Sprint and they 're-programmed' the phone three times and couldn't get it to stop. Upon threat of getting the federal government involved I was finally hooked up with a tech that knew what he was doing and he was able to 'un-clone' it so I didn't have to change that phone number. Sprint was also smart enough to remove those charges before the payment was due.

I would have been really pissed because I have that bill automatically withdrawn from my bank account.
Still have no idea how they get the unique number ESN/MEID (electronic serial number/mobile equipment identifier) to electronically snatch a phone. ESN numbers are 32-bit, while MEID numbers are 56-bit.

A 32-bit ESN means there are only 4 billion unique ESN numbers. With 56 bits, MEID provides for over 16 million times as many unique numbers as with the ESN system, ensuring the world will not run out of numbers again.

Sprint said crooks just keep typing in random sequences. Just think of the gazillion MEIDs out there and they happened to get lucky with mine!

I have better chances at winning the lottery but that never happens!!! :o)




This message was edited Apr 20, 2010 12:59 PM

I also received before I got you email///and I knew right away it was a scam to get money....A lot of scams come out of Nigeria. Jo

I once got an e-mail saying that a rich reletive to an African King had died and left someone with "too much money" and wanted me to deal take some off of his hands. People can be crazy...


~Daniel

I was able to get my email back. Boy was I one happy person here. The theif had also put in some other alternate email as a contact for them, which I changed, I also changed the questions and password. Also, when I was able to get into my own email I noticed that the response from Yahoo concerning my report was the only email that was read on there, they read that email and most likely figured out I was onto them. Apparently when the theif changed my password and added the alternate email, Yahoo notified me of that via my email, but, I couldn't read it because the password was already changed, so it doesn't do any good for them to notify you AFTER the fact. I wonder if they would wait 24 hours just like they do when you try to reinstate it? Anyway, what a headache.

My daughter was getting calls asking if we were okay... sheesh.. I sure don't know exactly how many others got that email.

Change your password every month if you can guys!!! and make it LONG

Good advice, Antoinette! What a total hassle! I can't believe that emails can be hacked like that! I did alert the Western Union office there in the UK to the scam, so hopefully they won't accept any money orders under your name! Sheesh!

Oh dear, well I am glad you let us know. I hate email these days.

I kept getting e-mails from Africa like the one above, asking for help to get their money out of the country. I wrote back to say that while I couldn't help, I would notify my gov. about their situation and see if they could help! I never got another one!
My neighbor got a phone call saying "Hi Grammaw. I'm in jail in Cal. for false charges and I need $15oo to get out!" She started asking questions, he said Grampaw always said he could rely on her if he needed help! She asked which frandson was he, Mike or Steve, and someone in the background said "Tell her Mike". She told him she didn't have the money, and asked how was his wife, and he hung up! This lady if 87 years old. How do they know who to call? Lots of old people would send it, tryint to help!

You know, one of our friends lost his wife in December. He got a letter three weeks ago telling him that he was selected to invest in some company. It was a three page letter telling him where to send money, etc.. he is very well off. What he found out was that these people were on 60 minutes two weeks before and it was a good thing that our friend's son saw the program on 60 minutes.

Our friend was so depressed that he really wanted to believe something like this could happen to him.

Apparently these people are keeping watch on the obituary columns and then taking advantage of the vulnerability of the spouses left behind. When he told me about it last week, I couldn't believe they could go so low.

That is very low. Unbelievable what people will do for money.

With this recession, the theives are getting VERY creative! Y'all be careful!