E-mail scam attacks user’s friends, family
JANESVILLE — The e-mail said John Eyster was in serious trouble.
While attending a seminar in London, his hotel was robbed, stranding him without money or credit cards. To pay his expenses overseas and return to Wisconsin, he needed cash—quickly.
But Eyster was never in London. In fact, he was home with his wife when he found out someone hacked his e-mail, attempting to swindle thousands of dollars from his friends and family.
“Being hacked, I think, is close to the kind of torture waterboarding is,” Eyster said. “You’re not sure if you’re dead or alive. It goes on because people keep opening their e-mail.”
About 200 people received that message. None of Eyster’s contacts responded by wiring cash to the anonymous author, but it highlights a growing problem in the evolution of Internet crimes.
For some time, hackers have been preying on people’s emotions to extract money or information.
In 2009, the FBI called the “hitmen scam” one of its most common problems. Users receive an anonymous e-mail in which the writer says he was hired to kill them unless they paid a bounty to spare their lives.
Other schemes involve a letter claiming to be from a relative jailed in another country. The author asks for bond money to be wired immediately.
In early July, the FBI warned consumers that the “social engineering scam” was becoming a major issue. Hackers access a user’s e-mail and solicit money from their contacts by telling a story about being stranded in a foreign country.
The sense of urgency sometimes lures victims into falling for the claim and wiring thousands of dollars to the hacker’s account.
Eyster said he was suspicious something had happened when he was unable to log into his e-mail. He tried to contact MSN, but its customer support wasn’t helpful, he said.
Then, he started getting calls from friends asking about the e-mail claiming he was in London. They suspected it wasn’t him, since the letter wasn’t typed in his signature style.
“The all-caps style was like my green pen,” Eyster said. “Everybody needs to be aware and always be suspicious. Ronald Reagan said ‘Trust and verify,’ and I would totally agree with that policy.”
Eyster said he spoke with friends who had the latest scam tried on them a few other times.
Internet crimes are on the rise, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. The agency received 336,655 complaints in 2009 accounting for more than $559 million in losses. That’s up from $265 million in 2008.
BE ON GUARD
The Federal Trade Commission calls “phishing” and “spyware” two of its most problematic scams. It advises Internet users to take several steps to avoid being a victim of fraud:
-- Use anti-virus and anti-spyware protection and update them regularly.
-- Create a strong password that includes numbers and capital letters for online accounts.
-- Make sure the Web browser being used is updated and the browser security is high enough to protect against unauthorized downloads.
-- Watch for hints that spyware has been loaded, including random error messages, constant pop-up ads or sluggish performance.
-- Send phishing e-mails to spam@uce.gov and the organization being impersonated to create awareness.
Sep 29, 2010 at 12:45 p.m.
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just got this in the mail today:
Dear friend, you have just contracted the Amish virus. Being as we have no computers or electricity, you are on the honor system. Please delete all the files from your computer hard drive and send this letter on to your aquaintances.
Thank thee.
darn it, I knew this would happen if I opened that envelope.
Sep 28, 2010 at 9:12 p.m.
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SO it GOT your COMPUTER too I see. LoL
Sep 28, 2010 at 3:01 p.m.
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My COMPUTER was HACKED by EYSTER. Caps LOCK turns ON every OTHER word I type. I CAN'T stop IT!
Sep 28, 2010 at 2:42 p.m.
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Be CAREFUL you don't get HACKED again EYSTER. I'm so glad you weren't in LONDON and that you're HOTEL wasn't ROBBED. I was so WORRIED thinking you were STRANDED without MONEY or CREDIT CARDS.
Sep 28, 2010 at 12:51 p.m.
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I AM GLAD, FOR AMERICA! WE THE PEOPLE, know when not to REPLY to an EMAIL trying to GET MONEY for a FAILING ECONOMY by a SCAM. our PRESIDENT Mr. Obama would have been very PROUD OF my outlook CONTACT LIST. So... LOL... On a more serious note, all of Mr. Eyester's contacts were probably hacked because he forwarded someone an email, or failed to use a virus scanner. Forwarding emails is the number one way for a scam artist to know your name and email, and the names and emails of friends. When forwarding an email to a friend, send it to yourself and BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) it to all the people that you want to see it, that way only they see your name and their name.
Sep 28, 2010 at 12:50 p.m.
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"Being hacked, I think, is close to the kind of torture waterboarding is...."
.
nice to see your sense of proportion is unaffected. Surrender Osama, or we'll hack your email.
Sep 28, 2010 at 11:59 a.m.
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When you open an email it doesnt automatically pop out. Usually there is an attachment. Look at the extension... its its not a .jpg then is probably isnt family pictures.
Sep 28, 2010 at 9:54 a.m.
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I really take issue with his quote here: “Being hacked, I think, is close to the kind of torture waterboarding is...."
Really? Having a scam email sent out with your name and email address on it is close to physical torture, causing extreme pain, lasting psychological damage, and possibly death?
Really?
Sep 28, 2010 at 9:42 a.m.
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“Being HACKED, I think, is close to THE kind of torture waterboarding IS,” oyster said. “You’re not sure if you’re DEAD or ALIVE. It GOES on BECAUSE PEOPLE KEEP OPENING THEIR E-MAIL!!!"
Sep 28, 2010 at 9:13 a.m.
Sep 28, 2010 at 9:02 a.m.
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Seems I read about this in '94 or '95...
Sep 28, 2010 at 8:37 a.m.
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RAF- LOL!
Sep 28, 2010 at 7:35 a.m.
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Sigma40- The problem is that the email does appear as if it came from someone you know. The hacker robs your address book and sends out emails to all of your contacts.I agree that if the request seems out of character of the person you get it from, you should not act.
Sep 28, 2010 at 7:29 a.m.
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This has been going around for ages. If you have an brain at all, the email is so far fetched it's ridiculous. And it provides no contact information to send the money to anyway. Some people believe everything they read. Good tip analertcitizen.
Sep 28, 2010 at 6:52 a.m.
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Sigma40 - I agree with you. But you know the old quote of P T Barnum.
Sep 28, 2010 at 6:19 a.m.
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Welcome to paranoid america. We believe way to many threats making us so vulnerable. I dont even read emails from people I dont know. Why would I? Click the delete button... case closed. This is nothing new and happens every day.
Sep 28, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.
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I use a technique that I read about and it just saved me last week from having the same thing happen. I put into my email address book/contact list the following address: aaaaaaa@aaaaaa.com. When someone hacks your computer, the first address is the above. When it is sent out,it is automatically rejected as "no such address" and the email is stopped.
Sep 28, 2010 at 5:23 a.m.
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I heard that only hacks your address book if you entered names and addresses in capital letters.
Sep 28, 2010 at 2:17 a.m.
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I suspect it only effects coffee party supporters.
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