This is the content of an email I've just received seemingly from a friend of mine.

The writing is not like her at all, nor the circumstances. (However, if it's real, I don't want to leave her in the lurch)

I'm thinking my hotmail contacts list has been hacked and this is the start of a scam.

Any thoughts?

Hello

How's everything on your end? This has had to come in a hurry and it has left me in a devastating state. I traveled to London,England for a Voluntary Training Program (VTP), and unfortunately for me all my money and cellphone was stolen at the hotel where i was staying by four armed robbers. The Embassy only cleared me of my traveling documents since I came in on unofficial purposes. The

hotel telephone lines were disconnected during the robbery incident,so I have access to only emails. My return flight back home is scheduled to leave in few hours from now but I've got to settle my bills before I'm allowed to leave....Now am freaked out....Please i need your help..

Hope to read from you soon.

Thanks and Regards.

Sounds like her email is hacked, had this happen to a friend of mine, who received the "same" email, he just called his friend on his mobile and everything was cleared up. But it took ages for his friend to regain access again over his email account.

GOOGLE ' I've got to settle my bills before I'm allowed to leave....Now am freaked out....Please i need your help..'

sEEMS TO BE QUITE A COMMON SCAM - delete

200% SCAM. I have seen almost the exact wording several times and on contacting them they are not even in the country nominated and in fact have problems accessing there email account. The email went to many on their contact lists. The ones that I was involved in were all using Hotmail but changed after this.

This is a scam I have seen it before. Just write back saying Money on the way, pick up at the usual place.

tell your friend to change their password, this normally works. No need to delete accounts, and not to click on stupid links!! Even those from friends, as remember they could have been hacked too.

Thanks to all. After posting this and reading the message again I was positive it was a scam.

This is the second email I've had in 3 days from friends that is obviously crap. The other one suggested I click on a link to open a funny video. It then asked for my email password! I provided something like "stickitupyourarse" and it sent me to a Thai site that seemed to be selling ipads and phones.

This is a scam I have seen it before. Just write back saying Money on the way, pick up at the usual place.

I did what you suggested and this is the reply:

Am glad you replied back, I have nothing left on me right now and I am lucky to have my life and passports with me it would have been worst if they had made away with my passports. Well all I need now is just $1,750 you can have it wired to my name via Western Union I'll have to show my passport as ID to pick it up here and i promise to pay you back as soon as I get back home.

Here's my info below.

Name: (deleted)

Location: 179-199 Holland Park Avenue London, United Kingdom

As soon as it has been done, kindly get back to me with the confirmation number. Let me know if you are heading to the WU outlet now???

Just on my way to WU now!!

Incidentally thats the address of the Hilton in London!

This is a scam I have seen it before. Just write back saying Money on the way, pick up at the usual place.

I did what you suggested and this is the reply:

Am glad you replied back, I have nothing left on me right now and I am lucky to have my life and passports with me it would have been worst if they had made away with my passports. Well all I need now is just $1,750 you can have it wired to my name via Western Union I'll have to show my passport as ID to pick it up here and i promise to pay you back as soon as I get back home.

Here's my info below.

Name: (deleted)

Location: 179-199 Holland Park Avenue London, United Kingdom

As soon as it has been done, kindly get back to me with the confirmation number. Let me know if you are heading to the WU outlet now???

Just on my way to WU now!!

Incidentally thats the address of the Hilton in London!

Question: Does the name correspond with the name of your friend ? If it is, then I just wonder how they would get the money if people would send it through a specific money agent.

This happened to my cousin- her email password was hacked or phished somehow. I was getting same kind of emails- she is in a hotel in London, lost credit cards and wallet, but still has passport. Knew it wasn't her because she is a teacher, and takes her holidays in the summer months. I played along with the scammer- said that I've transferred the money now via western union credit card payment, and that they have to give our grandfathers middle name as the code word to get the money. That ended the conversation.

Made me wonder though- was how the scammer could get the money from Western Union? If I started a transaction in my cousin's name, wouldn't the scammer need ID of some kind??

.............

Made me wonder though- was how the scammer could get the money from Western Union? If I started a transaction in my cousin's name, wouldn't the scammer need ID of some kind??

Same question I'm asking in the thread above yours

Really curious about that one !

Right - I was probably still slowly typing mine when you posted.

Since the scammer was posing as my cousin and saying that she has her passport to collect the money, it really did make me wonder how the scammer could get a Western Union transfer made out to her name.

The scammer must be working with a bent Western Union agent somewhere in London who is willing to take the money out of the system without ID - based on the scammer having a name and MCTN number is the only way I can figure it.

They had my friends full name on that reply.

They did ask for the confirmation number of the transfer, but you would still need a passport you would think.

I have had my hotmail contacts list hacked and so has my wife . Changed our passwords in hotmail but now use gmail instead as it seems a lot more secure. My friends have had the same problems and have taken the same action as me.

Scam, your friend's email has been hacked

Here is one I received, for comparison

Hope you get this on time, I made a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland and had my bag stolen from me with my passport and personal effects therein. The embassy has just issued me a temporary passport but I have to pay for a ticket and settle hotel bills. I've made contact with my bank but it would take me 3-5 working days to access funds in my account from Edinburgh. Please I need you to lend me some money to sort my self out of this predicament, I will pay back as soon as I return.

You can reach me via email, my phone was stolen as well.

I await your response.

1. I know he is in Malaysia

2. He is British, why would he need a passport in Scotland.

Moved to General for all to see.

//MOVED//

They had my friends full name on that reply.We had the same sort of spam mate, but who ever it was cracked the members list of a veterans site, for a couple of weeks we were getting all types of crap emails , but it was all traced back to an expat on Koh Samui ,who I am reliably informed has been taught the error of his ways

They did ask for the confirmation number of the transfer, but you would still need a passport you would think.

This is a scam I have seen it before. Just write back saying Money on the way, pick up at the usual place.

I did what you suggested and this is the reply:

Am glad you replied back, I have nothing left on me right now and I am lucky to have my life and passports with me it would have been worst if they had made away with my passports. Well all I need now is just $1,750 you can have it wired to my name via Western Union I'll have to show my passport as ID to pick it up here and i promise to pay you back as soon as I get back home.

Here's my info below.

Name: (deleted)

Location: 179-199 Holland Park Avenue London, United Kingdom

As soon as it has been done, kindly get back to me with the confirmation number. Let me know if you are heading to the WU outlet now???

Just on my way to WU now!!

Incidentally thats the address of the Hilton in London!

Here is your next reply:

Dear XXXX, So your in London that's fantastic, I'm arriving in London within the next 48 hours. I will be able to meet up with you and give you the cash, a big saving on W.U. fees.

Just wonder what the reply will be?

Scam, your friend's email has been hacked

Here is one I received, for comparison

Hope you get this on time, I made a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland and had my bag stolen from me with my passport and personal effects therein. The embassy has just issued me a temporary passport but I have to pay for a ticket and settle hotel bills. I've made contact with my bank but it would take me 3-5 working days to access funds in my account from Edinburgh. Please I need you to lend me some money to sort my self out of this predicament, I will pay back as soon as I return.

You can reach me via email, my phone was stolen as well.

I await your response.

1. I know he is in Malaysia

2. He is British, why would he need a passport in Scotland.

I too got one almost-identical, supposedly from someone I know, who resides in Hat Yai.

I was particularly impressed that the UK now apparently has an embassy in Edinburgh, to be able to issue a temporary passport, to British-citizens who find themselves stranded there !

Also that his bank was unable to assist him, in a major banking-centre, like Edinburgh.

One suspects that these scamsters don't know too much about the way the world works ?

200% SCAM. I have seen almost the exact wording several times and on contacting them they are not even in the country nominated and in fact have problems accessing there email account.

I got the same e-mail a few years ago and was very leery afterwards of the person who supposedly sent it . He was someone whose restaurant I had visited a few times and I was really suprised that he would ask me for a large amount of money. I did figure it out eventually.

Just heard about another scam.

Apparently someone is sending out false update notices for Adobe products.

I received one of these messages about a week ago, but luckily didn't click to download.

Adobe

you would still need a passport you would think.

Fake passport maybe?

you would still need a passport you would think.

Fake passport maybe?

Or an accessory in WU?

One of the two I guess. Can't really be any other way if the real name was used.

I'd say that the "accessory" at a Western Union office is the most probable - can't see them creating the right nationality of travel document for every scam that comes good.