iMugged

Posted By Daniel W. Drezner Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - 5:54 PM Share

The following is an exchange between myself and someone who had clearly taken over a friend's e-mail account, and was attempting to get me to wire money to them. All of the text is true; only the names have been changed to protect the innocent:

12:13 PM Scammer: hi there

me: Hello

12:14 PM Scammer: how are youi?

  you

me: OK... how's your daughter Bubbles? [Not her real name --DD]

12:16 PM Scammer: did you got my message?

12:17 PM me: No, is Bubbles OK?

Scammer: yeah

12:18 PM I need your help?

12:19 PM me: What's wrong?

12:20 PM Scammer: well i had a visit to a resort centerin Wales, England..

  got mugged by some hoodlums

  all cash and credit cards were stolen

12:21 PM me: Oh, no

  That's horrible!

12:22 PM Scammer: i need your help?

  thank GOD that i wasn't hurt and i still have my passport with me

me: Well, sounds like things will work out then!

12:23 PM Just call the credit card companies!

Scammer: have already canceled my credit cards and my bank account was frozen due to security reason

12:24 PM the mian issue is that i'm financially straned right now and my return flight leaves in few hours time but i need few cash to sort out some bills before coming over

me: Have you contacted your husband Bubba?

12:25 PM Scammer: we are both stuck together

12:26 PM i need you to loan us few cash?

  will def refund it as soon as we arrive back tomorrow

me: But surely Bubba can use the $500 he always keeps in his security pouch!

12:27 PM What flight are you on?

Scammer: Virgin Atlantic Airline

12:28 PM me: Have you tried contacting them to advance the money? I hear they do that in situations like these

Scammer: they can't do such thing

me: Sure they can! They did it when I was mugged in Edinburgh last month!

12:29 PM Scammer: i need your help?

me: What do you need?

12:30 PM Scammer: $1,000 is all we need

me: In which currency?

12:32 PM Scammer: 600 pounds is all we need

me: Oh, dear....

  How soon do you need it?

12:33 PM Scammer: we need it now

  the next available fluight leaves in 2hrs time and we got to be at the airport in 1hr time

12:34 PM me: But I don't see how I could get money to you that quickly

Scammer: you can have it wired to me vis Wetsern Union

  do you know any WU outlet nearby?

me: Hold on, I'll check....

12:35 PM Scammer: ok

12:36 PM me: Why, yes! There is one right near Fahrfivgnugen, MA, on Swindler Street! That's only 5 minutes from here!

Scammer: ok

  will you leave for the WU outlet now?

12:37 PM don't really have much time to waste

me: Well, where am I supposed to wire it EXACTLY?

Scammer: yeah!

  all you need is just my info

  a sec...

me: Which is?

12:38 PM Scammer: wire it in my name to
5 King Street, Cardiff, South Glamorgan CF10 1SZ, United Kingdom

me: OK, I'll head out in two minutes...

  Wait, there's someone knocking at my door

  Oh, no, they've got a gun!!!

12:39 PM Scammer: alright

me: Help!!!

  They're asking me for all my money and credit cards!!!

  I'm doing what he says!!!

  I'm sorry, now I have nothing.

  When you get back to the States, could you wire me some cash so I could get gas for my car please?

Scammer: f*** you

12:40 PM you kidding me???

I'm kicking myself that I didn't come up with something more original than that.

Any suggestions for the future? [UPDATE: thanks to alert reader S.C. for the link to this site.]

EXPLORE:BAD POLITICAL SCIENCE BEHAVIOR, HUMOR, INTERNET

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SIGIVALD

6:58 PM ET

December 8, 2009

It would be interesting if a

It would be interesting if a way could be worked out (that was not amenable to easy abuse) to tell WU that a scammer was asking for money, so that they could arrange a meeting with the local authorities when he came to pick up the no-money you actually sent along with the "hey, scammer!" warning.

ERIC C

7:30 PM ET

December 8, 2009

Yeah, I'm thinking something

Yeah, I'm thinking something along the above lines of sending a dollar and seeing if the police could pick the guy up. Don't know how you'd call Wales, perhaps on Skype.

Also, any word on how the email got hacked?

BRETT

10:30 PM ET

December 8, 2009

Good work. I'd probably just

Good work. I'd probably just tell him to screw off after he failed the "security questions" (i.e., about the daughter, etc), but it looks like you had fun with this guy.

The ultimate, of course, would be to counter-scam him.

ANWAY

3:35 AM ET

December 10, 2009

Scammer

Scammer:5 King Street, Cardiff, South Glamorgan CF10 1SZ, United Kingdom

You: Cardiff! Did you say Cardiff?

Scammer: Yes

You: Then I know just the man to help you. His name is Tony Third-Grade and makes loans to people in distress and he is right there in Cardiff! I'll call him and have him and his guys get right over to you.

SWEN SWENSON

12:31 PM ET

December 10, 2009

Similar scam going around

I received this warning via a professional organization web ring back on Nov. 5th:

Hi XXXX Members.

Just want to everyone a heads up about a spam scam that just came over email.
Apparently, XXXXXXX's(XXXXXXX XXXXX Officer) email has been compromised and someone is sending scam spam from it.
It looks like this:

Subject: Please I Need Your Urgent Assistance

I'm in England right now on emergency.Unfortunately,I'm little bit stranded.I just lost my luggage at the airport,on my arrival.Someone made away with my bag. Please, I need you to assist me with ($2,500) to enable me get back home after my program here. I will refund you back both the money and the transfer charge as soon as I return. Kindly, send it through Money Gram with this information below.

Receiver: XXXXXX XXXXX
Address: 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP, United Kingdom.

Love,

[signed]

This came from her actual email address and has her official signature, but it is definitely a hoax. It is a phishing scam that has cropped up recently.