nsane.forums Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 The fraudsters hack into people's accounts and message their friends posing as the user, who they claim has been "mugged in London".Appearing to be in desperate need of money, the scammers try to draw the user's friends into an online conversation, ending with a plea for funds.A transcript of one attempt shows how they take personal information from hacked pages to make their pose more realistic.The scammer, posing as a man named only as Matt, tells a Facebook friend: "I have the money in my checking account, I can't just access it from here. This (is) really me - Lauren (Matt's wife) is here with me and my kids."When the friend continues to question his identity, the fraudster blocks him, so he is unable to post a warning on Matt's homepage.Although the scam appears most common among users in the US, as well as in Australia, an Ireland-based blogger has also described how his account was hacked.John Braine wrote: "While I was scrambling around trying to find the best way of reporting it, the 'other me' was busy chatting to all my Facebook friends telling them that I'd been mugged at gunpoint in London and I was completely freaked and needed money to pay for my hotel and a flight home."One friend said the scammer got quite aggressive when she asked him how I/he knew her."In one bizarre exchange, a scammer finally admitted he was not actually in London but in Lagos, Nigeria - but still asked his potential victim to add him as a Facebook friend.It is not known how many people have fallen victim to the ruse, but Facebook's help centre warns: "Watch out for messages from friends or others claiming to be stranded and asking for money. These messages are typically from scammers."The site asks those affected to get in touch so that their accounts can be secured. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HX1 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 This is one of many scams out there.. and one of the main things to remember is that these things are never certain to just one site.. In fact 'BACK in DA DAY' as it were these things used to come across your e-mail account...Do be aware and no matter how good of a person you are, what you believe in doing to make the world a better place, or even to try to keep a balance out there.. NEVER get involved in something of this type..:thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizarre™ Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Always remember: help yourself, before you help others :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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