Suspect Email

[granny grump]

I have received an email purporting to come from a grandson who we are not in contact with and haven't been for a good many years. It was along the lines of we are stranded in Kiev please help. I know that these emails are spam but what worries me is there no reference to this grandson anywhere in my computer 'history'. Also he would have no idea of my email address. It is a bit worrying - has anyone any ideas as to how this could happen and should I change my password

Thank you for any help and suggestions

[zebo]

Is there another family member who may be in touch with him? Personally, I would ignore it, I get plenty of emails from banks etc with whom I have never done business. Remember, these people are professionals at scamming. Hope it goes well.

[boxtops]

You'd be surprised how devious these spammers are, granny - you might not have his details, but it's HIS email account which has been spammed, and obviously your email details are still in his on-line address book. He must have had it somewhere, buried in a cc'd email or somewhere.

Mark the email as spam and delete it - there shouldn't be any need to change your password, IMO - I get these "stranded in a strange place" emails quite often, from people I've never even heard of.

[kjn2]

Well known scam, good idea to change your password. Possible his e mail address was taken from another computer of someone who knows your grandson and you are also on their mailing list.

[sandyRoe]

I think your grandson's account has been hacked and a similar message would have been sent to all his contacts. Just ignore it.
I had an e-mail like that from someone who was supposed to have lost all their luggage and documents at an airport. I'd seen the same person in the corner shop just an hour or so before I opened my e-mails.

[granny grump]

Thank you zebo should I change my password?

[granny grump]

Wow thank you all there was only zebo's response when I started typing

[boxtops]

No prob, granny!

[SlackAlice]

Email addresses are 'harvested' from all over the world by hackers, either by hacking into other peoples computers or company computers, or bought from dodgy websites. These are then 'sold' on to other scammers for mass emailing. Your computer history is beside the point. They have also had a 'guess' you have a grandson (most people do).

Just as an example, I have 3 email addresses. Two of these email addresses are rarely used and only known to people I trust absolutely and I am sure they are computer savvy as well. The other one is my general email address and used for log-ins and websites.

When I pick up my emails, I only ever get spam and junk mail from my general address.

[granny grump]

Thank you The email doesn't mention he is my grandson but uses his name which isn't particularly common I suppose it could be a remakable coincidence

[aelmpvw]

they don't need to know whether you have a grandson or not, it's a shot in the dark, like all the bank emails i get about my non-existent accounts

[granny grump]

Thank you all for putting my mind at rest

[zebo]

I think I've said this before, but we have certain words or phrases that are known to family and would be included in any email asking for assistance.

[grasscarp]

The one I had supposedly from a friend who was on holiday and had been mugged wanted money sent by Western Union to pay his hotel bill. It said that he was writing the email with tears in his eyes. A person less likely to send an email to a friend asking for money with "tears in his eyes" made me realise it was an elaborate scam.

[seadogg]

Some webmail servers automatically stick this rubbish into a Spam folder.

[EcclesCake]

Ha Ha Grasscarp! It was when I got to 'I write this with tears in my eyes' that I burst out laughing with mine too. The one I received was from an Air Vice Marshall I know, quite a resourceful chap and not one to well up and send begging emails either!

[Brinjal]

Definite scam.

[HansUrbancka]

It's a Scam which has been going for a number of years. :-

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/stranded-scam.shtml

Hans.

[askyourgran]

Recently I have had to change my passwords, I have had several 'undelivered messages' that is e-mails with attachments I'm supposed to have sent, but I haven't sent any from that e-mail address for a while. I'm told it was phishing.

[smurfchops]

Might be a good idea to tell your grandson he has been hacked, but don't email him back at his email address, get someone to ring him. Or you ring him !

[grasscarp]

Eccles, your friend - Air Vice Marshal! I am impressed. My friend is a retired Air Traffic Controller and one of the most unemotional and capable people I know.