Scamming... not a joke!

“Help!”

The e-mail came from a Cannon Falls friend so I opened it up. It explained that he was on a trip and had been robbed and needed some money to buy airline tickets to get home. Then he would refund it.

I thought it was a joke because my friend knew I had arranged for a speaker to come here from the Minnesota Anti Fraud Unit to explain how to fight scams, particularly in e-mails.

Here is the first e-mail from “him”: "HELP!!! I'm sorry for this odd request because it might get to you too urgent but it's just the situation of things right now, We're presently stuck inScotland , we came down here on vacation. we were robbed, worse of it is that bag, cash and credit cards was stolen at GUN POINT, it's such a crazy experience for us and we need help with flying back home, the authorities are not being 100% supportive but the good thing is we still have our passports but don't have enough money to get on a plane back home, please we need you to loan us some money till we get back home to refund it back. Thanks"

It’s a joke, right?

Since I thought it was a joke I responded to the e-mail in a “sassy” manner: "Gee that's tough... Let me know how things go! Rosie”

I don't sound very sympathetic! I thought he would e-mail me that he was just teasing but I soon got this reply: "Thanks for quick response.We're in a tight situation over here we just really need your financial assistants with getting on a plane back home, $1,850 is all we need more,you can get the money to us here using a western union, you need just my name as written on my passport and the location here, we can get on a plane in the next 3hrs if we can get the money, Its not just safe here, We're really freaking out... and will surely get the money back to you as soon as we get back home. Thanks Alot.”

Friends in law enforcement!

I wrote back: "What about if I pass your e-mail on to some law enforcement friends? They'll know better how to help you than I can, I betcha!... Rosie"

I didn’t get any more e-mails from them.

It is a trick... isn’t it?

I still thought it was a trick, so I contacted our speaker, Senior Special Agent Jim Arlt, to see if he had any ideas as to how I could turn the joke back on my friend! But as Arlt considered my information, he suggested I contact my friend to see if his e-mail had been compromised or taken over by scammers.

I did... and it was! He was getting calls from all over the United States, concerned about him!

And now I’m wondering how my “sassy” responses hit it off with the scammers! I thought the best thing to do would have been to just delete the e-mail and call the person.

What to do?

But Arlt responded: Do not delete the e-mail. “Call the person by phone. If they have had their account taken over they should work with their email account provider and contact their local law enforcement.”

There is useful information in the e-mail, Arlt continued. It has “hidden headers, that when exposed, will reveal where the suspects are located.

“Not just e-mail is being affected but sites like Facebook, etc. It’s also good to get your computer checked by a professional to make sure that there wasn’t malicious software introduced to their computer that would collect keystroke or screenshots data from your computer that could compromise your bank account information, etc. “

Well, what I thought was a joke wasn’t very funny for my friend. And if I ever got stranded in a foreign country, I don’t think anyone would believe me if I sent an e-mail asking for help! “You betcha!”