Hacked Friend: I’ve Been Mugged; Send Money

During the holidays, when people tend to travel more, you can expect an email from one of your friends who desperately needs your help after he's been mugged and left without a dime. In many situations, this means that the friend’s email has been compromised and the hackers are relying on it to send their malicious schemes.

The clever technique utilized by cybercrooks these days is presented to us by Microsoft researchers.

The phony email, that seems to be a legitimate one, sent by a person from your contact list may look something like this:

I 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 days to access funds in my account from Edinburgh, I need you to lend me some funds to cover these expenses. I can give back to you as soon as I get in.

I can be reached by email, as I lost my phone in the robbery and don't have access to a phone at the moment.

Individuals who receive the scam emails are advised to alert their friends and recommend them to change the password. If the password has already been changed, they can utilize the reset password features, considering that they provided an alternative email address and a secret question when the hijacked account was created.

Hotmail customers can also notify Microsoft on the fact that their friend’s assets were compromised by using the My friend’s been hacked tool. The tool is easy to use and can be found in the Mark as menu.