Grumble....Mumble....and Curses to the nasty gremlins that recently hacked my hotmail account! #$%@!
My apologies to EVERYONE in my huge contact list who recently received an email (supposedly from me) asking that you contact me as I needed immediate help.
The entertaining part of the whole thing was that my phone rang about 30+ times that morning as friends called to alert me about the hack or to ask if I was okay. They were relieved to hear that I was not in jail in the Ukraine and I wasn't asking for the 1750 lbs of bail money. Several friends also came over to the house to tell me in person. Thank you to everyone! The good side of all that is knowing there are so many friends who try to help when problems occur.
Just for grins, Don replied to that hacked message to see what would happen. Of course, FIRST he turned on several security measures to protect himself. Here's how it went:
HACKER: "How are you doing today, please i need a quick favour from you but am not available on phone so kindly reply once you receive my mail."
DON: "What's wrong? How can I help you?
HACKER: "Appreciate your kind response. I just arrived Ukraine for a short program but having a little problem here. I tried making withdrawals from about 5 different ATM machines but all to no avail and after visiting the banks here I was told it would take 5-7 working days to access funds in my account. I am stranded here without no money so I was wondering if I could get a quick loan of $1,750 USD from you or any amount you can raise at the moment and I promise to refund it back immediately I get back home. Let me know if you are willing to assist so I can instruct you on how to get it sent to me. Please I need you to keep checking your email because it's the only way I can reach you for now. Await your response."
DON: "Can't send anything until I know where you are. What's your address there?"
HACKER: "That's for your response, I want the money sent to me through Western Union or MoneyGram transfer to my details below.
Receiver's Name: Sue Hepler
Address: 12 Romen Rollan Str, Kharkov
State: Kharkov
Country: Ukraine
As soon as it has been done kindly attach the transfer receipt to me which is all I will need to pick up the money here. Please let me know if you are heading out now. Waiting to read from you."
*********
***We didn't go any farther than that. We will forward the info to the Federal Trade Commission in an effort to protect others. If you receive a scam message, you can do the same:
Thanks for being friends!
