Subject: Re: [Bulk] URGENT HELP NEEDED !!!Shirley Sommers
From: Alec Wood <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:29:40 -0700

> The message that was sent is very common going around 
> the net. It is usually a story about someone you might 
> know in trouble in London, UK under similar circumstances. 
> I've received 3 of them from Facebook Friends.  One person 
> who I haven't seen since 8th grade (1966) engaged me in 
> a Facebook chat about the same situation.

> On Jun 14, 2011, at 11:11 AM, william wrote:
>> I didn't, how can one know?
>> 
>> William
>> 
>> On 06/14/2011 09:37 AM, David Harrison wrote:
>>> FYI, As you all probably know, this is 99% a hacked account.

Absolutely 100% a fraud. I received one (purporting to come from Spain) about two years ago. The Yahoo mail account of a friend was hacked and a message like this sent to everyone on his e-mail address list.

The sad thing is that older people, particularly those who both 
(a) have some affection and respect for the person PURPORTING to have sent the e-mail, and 
(b) have a nest egg of cash readily available 
are likely to be taken in. The most likely victims are trusting older people, retirees who have been through most of their adult life without the internet and are still not "internet savvy".

What to do about e-mails like this? Just ignore them.

How do I know it's not genuine? Just be as skeptical as you would if your friend wrote to you telling you how good trans fats, fries, cola and pretzels are for your health! 

But how can I be sure? Everyone who uses the internet should have someone they can go to with questions like this - an acquaintance they know face-to-face. It is also possible to check on Google. Select a string of 3-5 words from the message which is unlikely to have appeared before and enter them into Google WITH inverted commas at beginning and end: "hotel manager won't let us leave until". You will usually find that someone has posted confirmation that the message is a fraud. Try it.

Sorry about posting "Off Topic", but I believe the above may help some members of this list.

Keith