Yes, it’s cliche: an email asking for money scheme.

Somewhere around 3:30 am, someone (or something) scrapped her account, took her contacts and started sending everyone who has ever had contact with Lori the following email:

Hey,

This had to come in a hurry and it has left me in a devastating state.

I’m in some terrible situation and I’m really going to need your

urgent help. Some days ago,unannounced,I came to visit a resort center

in South Glamorgan England, UK..but I got mugged by some hoodlums and

lost all my cash,credit cards, I’m financially stranded right now and

my return flight leaves in few hours time but I need some money to

clear some bills, I didn’t bring my cell phone along since I didn’t

get to roam them before coming over. So all I can do now is pay cash

and get out of here quickly.I do not want to make a scene of this

which is why I did not call my house,this is embarrassing enough.I was

wondering if you could loan me some cash, I’ll refund it to you as

soon as I arrive home just need to clear my Hotel bills and get the

next plane home, As soon as I get home I’ll refund it immediately.

Write me so I can let you know how to send it.

The first email went out around 6:30am and by the end of the day, we got emails and phone calls from nice folk who just wanted to make sure.

We reported the incident to Google when we were unable to access the account (probably triggered by the number of spam emails sent out). Google was incredibly quick about responding to the issue after we completed the process of verifying the hijacking.

In the end, I was surprised at the email and what the cracker would gain from this little email scam. No links to follow, no nothing.

Then I noticed why: when I sent an email to her account, nothing appeared. In fact, no emails since the attack were in her InBox. And then I stumbled on this:

They set up another account and had all emails forwarded to that other email account. Just sitting in the shadows, waiting for “I’ll help you out” emails to come through. Pretty sneaky, really.

What we learned:

• Change your passwords every once in awhile
• If your account gets hijacked, be sure to check all the settings to make sure your emails aren’t being forwarded.
• Be thankful for nice people in your contact list who can be forgiving.