Scam Alert: Your Friend Was Not Mugged in Spain
An email is circulating claiming the sender is traveling in a foreign country and has been mugged.
It's back!
An email scam is circulating the Internet that claims the sender is traveling abroad and has been mugged. It then requests funds.
This week it was a Gwinnett County Imam's email account that was hacked. The opening line of the email reads, "Assalamu Aalaykum," a common greeting among Muslims. The rest of the email reads, in part:
"I'm writing this in tears, I came traveled to Spain for an urgent program, but unfortunately I got mugged at the park of the hotel where I stayed - all cash and cell were stolen off me but luckily for me I still have my passport.
"I've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're slow in helping issues. My return flight leaves in 3 hours but hotel manager won't let me leave until I settle the bills.I Need your help with a loan to pay the hotel bills and I'll surely pay back when I get back home."
A similar scam circulated in years past. According to a 2011 report in The Guardian, the emails could be a result of the 2010 Gawker hack.
In January of this year, Arizona House Rep. Cecil Ash was targeted by the same scam. Experts called it a common money-wiring scam.
If you have been the victim of this or similar scams, change your password and alert your contacts. A strong password typically includes uppercase and lowercase letters, at least one number and a symbol.
Cindy
7:21 pm on Friday, June 29, 2012
We recieved an e-mail like this several years ago. The supposed send was a friend of my husband. He quickly picked up his phone and called the guy. He was safe and sound in the U.S. and would be a work the next day. Every body needs to be extra careful these days about scams.
Thor Johnson
7:59 am on Saturday, June 30, 2012
Thanks Crystal, very good warning. However there’s more... I will have a Patch blog post up soon.
Some of the post will have suggestions on how to avoid Email Scams... DISCLAIMER... Nothing is foolproof so be aware, always.
Most of the Time you can discover the validity of these “phony” emails by just using Common Sense... DON’T BELIEVE ALL OF WHAT YOU SEE ON THE INTERNET... There is no such thing as a Black Lion (http://www.hoax-slayer.com/facebook-black-lion.shtml). If you are captivated by the wonderful, exciting, impressive, heart rendering stuff you read on the world wide web it pays to be a cynic a very, very big one.
Leslie Johnson
9:22 am on Saturday, June 30, 2012
Very good information, Crystal. And if they're not using e-mail, some scammers may try other tricks: http://patch.com/A-rbHX
Crystal Huskey
12:47 pm on Saturday, June 30, 2012
Wow! That happened to another friend of mine in Indiana. She recognized it was a scam though.
Msgoff
10:52 pm on Saturday, June 30, 2012
I received one exactly like this, but the person was stranded in a different country. We are both on a group list, so I "Googled" her name and rec'd a return phone call from her; she was at work and was aware of it and trying to clear it up. Be ever vigilant!!
Leslie Johnson
10:48 am on Sunday, July 1, 2012
Good advice, Msgoff!
Rich Dennis
6:57 pm on Sunday, July 1, 2012
Help!!! I'm stuck on GA400 southbound at 7:30 AM...I'm being held hostage and need some T-SPLOST ransom money to set me free...although there is no guarantee the T-SPLOST money will ever help me!!! But please be a sucker and vote for the money anyway...HELP!!!!!
David
10:10 am on Monday, July 2, 2012
Too funny. And too true.
Msgoff
2:05 pm on Monday, July 2, 2012
Hello Dennis, I am here to help you! I will wire the money to you via Western Union; however, you first need to send me a check for $40 zillion and then I will wire you the money necessary to release you from GA 400. That should be enough money for T-SPLOST. As I joke, I suppose I should add a disclaimer in case someone thinks I'm serious. This is a JOKE people!!! I hope you made it to your destination!
Kim Roberto
8:30 am on Monday, July 2, 2012
I warned my parents about this a few years ago because they were calling elderly people on the phone saying they were a grandchild stuck in Europe (or somewhere)after being mugged of all their money and items and needed money to come home. Knowing my parents, and many grandparents who would do ANYTHING for their grandkids, this really concerned me. Thankfully, they never sent any money.
Gopal Das
9:50 am on Wednesday, July 4, 2012
I think everybody should check out the Scam Detector app. I believe they're online as well.