Facebook 419 scam: Beware of online friends saying...

[Xavier]

<span style="font-weight: bold">Facebook 419 scam: Beware of online friends saying they're stranded and need money</span>
Writer: Etan Horowitz
Source: Orlando Sentinel

By now, most people are familiar with the Nigerian prince scam, where you get an e-mail from someone claiming to be a Nigerian prince who needs money.

That scam has apparently gotten more sophisticated and shown up on Facebook. It's not brand new, but I had never heard about it until a colleague told me this morning that one of her friends who lives in Colorado was targeted.

With so many people signing up for Facebook these days (particularly older users who may not be as tech-savvy), it's a good idea to be aware of the different scams and view everything online with a skeptical eye.

(Here's some information on another popular Facebook hoax.)

Here's what happened to Adelita DeHerrera, my coworker's friend, who lives outside of Denver.

At about 1 a.m. Colorado time today, someone hacked into her Facebook account and started instant messaging her Facebook friends that were online. Pretending to be DeHerrera, the hacker claimed that she was stranded in London because she was robbed at her hotel and she needed money to fly back home.

The hacker also got into to DeHerrera's Gmail account and contacted my colleague via the chat function and told her the same story. My colleague could tell something was up so she asked some questions that only her friend would really know, such as what is her husband's name. The hacker answered incorrectly, so my colleague knew it was a hoax.

But another one of DeHerrera's friends was fooled and actually sent money via Western Union. When that friend asked the hacker in a Facebook chat &quot;how do we know eachother,&quot; they responded correctly that they were law school classmates. So she sent the money.

DeHerrera was able to regain access to her Gmail account and change her password, but she has not gotten back into her Facebook account. Her friends have been posting messages on her Facebook profile to alert people that DeHerrera's account has been compromised, but everytime they post a message, the hacker deletes it from the wall and blocks them.

DeHerrera reported it to Facebook, but she has not heard back yet.

Read the rest of the story on the Orlando Sentinel

[Pepper]

Re: Facebook 419 scam: Beware of online friends saying...

I just changed my password.

I received one of these scam e-mails begging for money from someone I knew. I read it and instantly thought it was some kind of scam. But I looked at the 'from' e-mail address and it looked correct. I figured maybe they were really good at making it look like they had the right address. And in anycase, the person asking for money was no one close to me.

I figured, she is either crazy for asking me for money, or someone got a hold of her address book. Shortly after she sent out an apology e-mail explaining that she had been hacked. I hope nobody sent her any money.

[Xavier]

Re: Facebook 419 scam: Beware of online friends saying...

Wow. That is pretty shocking. Something is probably going on with their security. Did she find out how they got in? Was her email address compromised?