Online Scammer Hacks into E-mail Accounts for Money

According to 'The Canadian Press' news report published on August 9, 2009 from Toronto in Canada, an Internet scammer is hacking people's e-mail accounts to seek cash from their contacts by pretending as the accountholders themselves.

Police's probe into the case suggests that the fraud involves a hacker who manages to infiltrate the e-mail account of an accountholder and then alter its password so that the original accountholder is not able to use his account.

Thereafter, pretending as the account's owner, the hacker sends spam messages to all the names on the account's address list, stating that he is stuck in Birmingham, England.

The hacker also implores the e-mail recipients to wire him money. However, people who become convinced and answer the initial spurious message, receive another e-mail that pleads them to urgently wire money through Western Union, implying that the fraudster can conveniently cash the wire transfer from anywhere.

Furthermore, police officials investigating the case reveal that the scammer usually requests for a reasonable amount of money. For instance, in this case, amount to meet his supposed airfare from London to Toronto. They intentionally ask for this much amount so that no suspicion arises.

Moreover, additional investigations suggest that a hacker has recently targeted an account of a medical professional in Toronto. 400 people got the request e-mail of whom 2 sent a good $2,500 to the online fraudster.

Meanwhile, Murray Barnes Police Det. of Toronto says that the e-mail fraud has been in his knowledge since he too got the fake e-mail urging for money a few months back. However, Barnes didn't believe it as he was aware that his friend at the time wasn't in London, as reported by The Canadian Press on August 9, 2009.

With the e-mail scam still circulating, Toronto Police have advised the city's residents who might get this kind of e-mail requesting for funds to examine the creditability as well as the veracity of the e-mail by getting in touch with the e-mail's sender, but via a different mode of communication. Moreover, they have advised accountholders never to hand over personal information or passwords.

Related article: Online Card Fraud Shows Greater Tendency Than Chip and Pin

» SPAMfighter News - 8/25/2009