Last evening I was contacted by someone pretending to be a well known blogger on Active Rain. Apparently this person hacked into this real estate agent's Facebook® account and was sending instant messages from it.
In this case the culprit claimed to be my friend and was in London on vacation. He said he was held up at gun point and hit in the head and needed cash wired via Western Union. It took me a few minutes to realize this was probably a scam. My first hint was the hard sell for me to move fast. A big red flag in anything you do in life. To test this person I kept finding other alternative solutions to sending the cash. They had an excuse for each one, leaving only sending cash via Western Union immediately as a possible solution. They also messaged me a new e-mail address to contact them with the instructions. The e-mail address was somewhat convincing since they used his name in the address.
I called first thing this morning and reached my friend's wife to verify that he was not in London and to let him know his Facebook® account was hacked.
I just e-mailed back the scammer asking for the name of the hotel they were staying in and the phone number so I could call them. If they respond, I will post the results here.
Since getting on Facebook® and Twitter®, I have had my accounts hacked with a virus inserted. It seems to be an easy thing for the bad guys to do. The most common from it takes is the message with a bunch of misspelled works either telling you they have a video of you or you are a Dumb A_ _ (misspelled). If you click on the link they now have access to your account and it will start sending out those messages to everyone in your contact list. It will also drop a virus on your computer. In last night's case they seemed to have gotten access to his account and were operating from it. My broker had the virus get into her Facebook® account and sent the Dumb A__ message to several local politicians. In that case I did get a great laugh. I am sure it wasn't the first time someone called them that.
If this happens to you, the first thing you should do is enter your account and change the password immediately. Then get on your computer and scan for viruses. The first time it happened, my anti-virus software let it right in. I was using probably the number #1 selling anti-virus product at the time. I have since changed to Kaspersky® and have found it to be a superior product. Nothing has gotten through since.
If you are going to open yourself to the world via social networking, you also open yourself to some bad folks. If they get into your account, they will be doing bad things to your friends, family and clients with your name on it. You please remember to practice safe networking.
Update:
I have had several messages back and forth with the scammer. They are probably realizing that I was scamming them back. After I insisted they send me the hotel's name, address and phone number they finall came up with an address that is posted on the internet as part of a known scam.
http://csrollyson.tumblr.com/ http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?p=2518
They insisted I send cash via Western Union. I told them I sent it via a special secured transaction that requires they go to a specific location and present their passport and reference my name. The location I selected was a couple hours dirve away. That is if they are really in London. They kept insisting I send them the tracking number, which I said does not exist for this secured transmittal.
Here was our last few messages:
Scammer:
- Name : +++++++
- Address : 224 Upper Richmond Road
- London, SW15 6TD
- United Kingdom
- Sunderland hotel
- Hotel Number +447024097949
Get back to me as soon as you have the money wired.can you have the money right away? how soon can this take you ?
Hope to read from you as soon as you have this done.
Thanks
Me: I am having a hard time finding this hotel. I have searched the internet with no luck. Do you have the name and address of the hotel correct?
I have to go to bed it is really late here. Hopefully we can resolve it in the morning before I leave for board meetings. I can't do anything until Western Union opens.
Me: The money was sent Western Union ($800.00 American). I had trouble locating your hotel on the internet, I hope I found the closest Western Union location to you.
- Western Union
- SOMAGA AFICAN RESTAURANT
- 88-90 Bristol Street
- Birmingham, B5 7AH
Because of your stolen IDs and credit cards, I used a secure transfer. It cannot be tracked in the Western Union system to protect you from the folks who stole your IDs and credit cards. The money can only be picked up at the location we wired it to. Just show your passport and reference my name. The money transfer will only be available for 8 hours and then it is automatically reversed back to Hawaii. I hope you get this message right away. What a mess criminals have made of our world. I had a tough time making this happen. Western Union was not very cooperative. It took me a couple of attempts to get it sent. They claim it is due to new Homeland Security guidelines.
Scammer: Can i have the MTCN number.hope to read from you soon? Western Union told me to provide the MTCN number.Ok? Thanks.
Me: You just caught me, I am running out the door for the rest of the day.
This one is a special transfer, you do not need a number. You just go to the specified location in person and show your passport and use my name. It should already be there. Because it is secured, Western Union can't give out information on the internet or on the phone for this transfer.
Scammer: You are a lier.whats is the meaning of this ?try and understand me i need this to have the money pick up that is if you have wire it ok?
Me: I send you $800 and you insult me? Are you kidding me? Did you go to the Western Union office I sent it to?
Scammer: Go back there and ask them for the western union MTCN number Ok?
Me: According to Western Union, you never showed up at the location with your passport. Do you have an explanation? If you are so desperate, why did you not show up? Are you playing me?
--------------------------------------------
After that message early this morning it has gotten quiet.
As for the politicians...it was probably right on. I have yet to get on these other community sites and I don't plan on it anytime soon!
Randy - I have worried about this hacking... I am going to change my password... thanks.
I never follow a link in e-mail...especially one that says your Face Book password has been reset. They look legit but aren't. That is usually how they get in and hack all your info.
Good thing you didn't fall for this one!
Hi Randy,
Interesting, and thanks for the warning, yet I think this must be happening in other ways too.
One of my associates (actually our office manager) who is not on FB or Twitter supposedly sent us all an email saying he was in England, had money issues, etc. etc. Since I'm the broker and he manages for me, I knew he was here all along and so did everyone else in my office.
This person does have aminimual AR profile, yet not an active blogger, probably hasn't been on AR for a few years now. The only other place he's found online is our company website, that's it, so we're not sure how/where he was hacked.
William - I was slow to join, but have gotten business from FaceBook and have made connections was long lost friends and family members.
Wendy - I change my password every month whether I need it or not.
Monika - I can see it would have fooled many people. The scammer vanished, he did not answer an e-mail I sent him this morning.
Lynda - They have so many ways to zap you.
Hi Randy, I'm always a usually a bit cautious with links especially the .ppt that get forwarded to everybody. Also recently on FB I got a message from my younger cousin, I do not talk to much to her, sent me a link to a video, I guessed she was probably hacked into so I ignored it, yep a few weeks later a request to be her friend again she had to set up a new account. I also get password reset message from banks I do not have accounts from.
Eva - I am finding that you cannot click on any link in any in-box message on Facebook.
You know, it is really almost beyond belief, how low some people will go - scams are really on the increase - that is a sad state of affairs!
hmmm... London hospital, head injury... that sounds familiar. One of my clients had sent that email message about year or 16 months ago. I called him immediately and he clued in and took care of it. It was just too far fetched to believe it.
BarbaraJo - I think the scammers are no worse than before. They just have more tools to work with.
Georgina - I figured it out pretty quick. In the real world an individual could get a cash advance on a credit card or contact a family member for assistance. The fact that their hotel did not take a credit card was also a big red flag.
Hey Randy..Just saw your post..it is amazing what some people will do to get other peoples money.
Hope you had a wonderful time in London...am learning more and more about activerain and all the wonderful information that comes from it...thanks so much for telling me about it at the tweet-up in San Francisco...seems like ages ago now!
Aloha Kathleen - It was nice meeting you in San Fran. I have not been on Active Rain as much as I would like lately. I have been keeping a pretty heavy schedule. I am hoping to spend more time here this year. Active Rain has been quite beneficial to me and my business.
Randy
It takes all kinds, doesn't it? I got my first spam with a virus (thank goodness I was protected) from LinkedIn today.
Jeff
Randy-
The Internet has brought many great things and conveniences, as we all know. It has also helped to create some vicious criminals that work from home and wreak havoc worldwide.
My PayPal Account was once hacked, they scammers used "paypal" in their domian- from some far away place!
That happened to Fred Carver too, I got the same email from this scammer. Of course, I know too much about Fred to believe this stuff. Katerina
Jeff - I have gotten hit by Facebook and Twitter. I guess I can look forward to LinkedIn next.
Mott - Thise scammer are some of the trickiest ones.
Katrina - I bet they caught a few folks.
How could I have missed this one! I had a client in the Virgin Islands that believed my scam as well.
Eric - There are a few agents here in Hawaii who's accounts were hacked the same way recently.
Thanks Eric, you helped me catch this Facebook hack. The email came from someone I know, but the guy is using the same phone number and I found your post by a google search on the phone number:
Hi, I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and I came down here to North England,United Kingdom for a short vacation. unfortunately,we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash and credit card were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us. We've been to the Embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in few hours from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills. Well I really need your financially assistance..Please, let me know if you can help us out?Or you could contact the Hotel Management (+447024097949) to let you know the best and fastest way of getting the funds to us . Am freaked out at the moment!!
Mike - Hopefully we help save one or two folks from falling for it.