Really Sneaky Scam - Here's How it Works:

Did you read recently about hackers grabbing a billion account names and passwords? This is what you do with a hacked email account. I have changed the names and addresses below.

Here is the email:

Someone has hacked Michael's email account with sbcglobal and got his contact list.

Then they sent the fake message to see who might send him money.

NOTE The return email address is different. Many will not notice Michael.Hollywood at yandex.com. Yandex is a Russian company, their version of Google.

If you hit return you would be emailing the scammer who is pretending to be Michael.

If you then send money to a bank account or PayPal address it would not go to Michael but to the scammers.

They may even have a fake website setup that looks like a bank they could use to steal the money in your bank account if you logged in to transfer money


This is a sophisticated and targeted scam using a hacked email list not to send spam, but to make a reasonable sounding financial pitch to friends. The use of a different reply address, with a similar name, is something not many will notice. For some email program you may never see it.





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