Email Account Compromised!

Picture credit: www.switched.com

Hacked and Hijacked

We discovered late yesterday that our email hoefarmasi@gmail.com had been hijacked to send out an appeal for money.

On 09/08/2011, at 1:47 PM, "hoe farmasi ;hoefarmasi@gmail.com" wrote:

How're you doing and I trust that I find you in good health. I'm really sorry to reach out to you this manner and I'm sorry for not informing you about my urgent trip to Scotland. I am here for a Seminar and to complete a project. Presently, I will be glad if I could confide in you and I want this issue to be confidential between You and I because I don't want people to get worried about my situation.

I happened to be a victim of a robbery attack on my way to the hotel and I lost my belongings including wallet, mobile phone and some valuables during this incident. I am sending you this e-mail from the city Library (and I only have 15mins in every 2hours to access my email from here), I had to block my account and my bank cards immediately the incident happened. I am facing a hard time here because I have no money on me to clear my Hotel bill and other expenses. Please I will like you to assist me with a loan of 3000 Euros or any amount you could afford to sort-out my hotel bills first and to get myself back home. I have reported the case to the embassy here and they are going through the necessary procedures but I will appreciate whatever you can afford to assist me with and I'll refund you the money as soon as I return.

I await your reply immediately so I can email you the details to transfer the money.

Thank you.

Jacqueline
K.H. Hoe Pharmacal Sdn. Bhd.

Jacqueline Chan is in Malaysia with her hands full dispensing prescription and providing medication counseling to the Port Klang community. So we tested the hacker's response before we got Google to act:


Hi Jacqueline, we can't afford the 3000 euros but pls tell us how we can transfer some money to you.

And we got a prompt response:

Thank you for the concern and help, Please help me transfer the money through Western Union money transfer service, all they need is the name and address of the receiver which is below and their website is (www.westernunion.com)

Here are the informations:

Name: Jacqueline Chan

Address : 4 Lutton Place

Edinburgh, EH8 9PE, Scotland

United Kingdom

When you're able to complete the transfer, Please email me with the necessary details to receive the money and also let me know how you want the money refunded to you so I can make the arrangements to get it to you as soon as I get back home.

Thank you

Jacq

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We hope you were not duped into sending money to this account. If you are unlucky like us and got your E-mail account compromised, go to www.switched.com. for helpful advice.