Wow – now that was interesting. I’ve received spam messages through Facebook, but never this before. A friend who I’ve barely spoken to since 2003 (we used to work together) sent me a Facebook IM and we had a long discussion. She apparently needed me to urgently send her $600 as she was held up at gun point and lost everything.
You can read the below. As an epilogue, I wrote the below message to her as well as posting it on her wall. The wall post was deleted within minutes and I was removed as a friend, which confirmed my suspicions.
I am an experienced traveler so could sympathise with the situation but was fully aware of how con men operate as I’ve been done over before – and I could easily see someone falling for it. I’m sharing the below because this is only going to be more common in our society, as people sign into things like Facebook at internet cafes and don’t log out properly. Use the below as a guide if you ever get into this situation.
Remember that nothing is that urgent that it requires you to send a bank transfer from your online banking facility right now. Only ever send money via Western Union, which costs $70 but it’s quick, secure and truly global. I would know as well – I was in Peru with not even enough money to pay for my accommodation that night and barely for lunch. Western Union can deliver money to post offices, pharmacy’s as well as banks in minutes – they are literally everywhere – and they only provide the money (up to $1000) if there is a passport to validate. It’s a much better way to help out someone in need, as it eliminates the potential for fraud.
———————————
Rhiannon,
We’ve been chatting on Facebook chat. You’ve got $800, so that means you are not in an immediate emergency of not having somewhere to eat, drink and sleep. So you’ve got a few days leeway, that’s good.
But it’s easy to hack a persons facebook account, and I won’t know if it is genuinely you until I speak to you on the phone.
I will help but other than calling family, you need to consider
– talking to the consular which has a 24 hour hotline. You won’t get money but they will help you
– calling your credit card company. They will issue you emergency cash and an emergency credit card.
I am not going to transfer money from my bank account and will only do it with Western Union – as they can confirm your identity with a passport. I am also not going to wire the money over until you’ve exausted the other options I’ve listed above as I’ve done it in the past before and it reduces scope for potential fraud and burden on other people.
I’m sorry if this is genuinely you reaching out, but I am advanced with my knowledge about internet security, and this could very typically be an example of some prick taking advantage of your account which you forgot to sign out from in an Internet cafe which quite frankly I am highly suspicious of because there is evidence to support that.
I am sending this message because you will get it through your e-mail account which is seperately secured. I am also posting on your wall so your other friends can see what we discussed. Hopefully you won’t delete it, because that will prove this is a phishing scam and I will monitor so as to inform Facebook what’s happening to prevent any fraud from happening.
———————————
8:38pm Rhiannon
Hi
8:38pm Elias
Hi!
8:39pm Rhiannon
I am stranded in london and i need your help
8:39pm Elias
ok, what can I do?
(and happy birthday :))
8:40pm Rhiannon
i was mugged at a gun point in Kentish town, it was a brutal experience, all cash i had on me were stolen and my credit card was collected too now i’m left with no money here. I need you to loan me some money to get a plane ticket
yea thanks
8:42pm Elias
How do I know this is Rhiannon?
It’s happened to me before and it sucks, so appreciate it if this is not a joke
8:43pm Rhiannon
what
Elias i would never you stranded in another country if you really needed my help
I am still in shock right now and i’ll apprecaite it if you can help me out
8:44pm Elias
call me on
or give me a number I can call you
8:45pm Elias
if you had a credit card, you are in luck because you can get emergency cash
8:45pm Rhiannon
i can’t make any calls right now
my phone was also stolen
8:46pm Elias
well give me a number to call you
8:46pm Rhiannon
I have been able to raise over $800 but i need $650 more to get the plane ticket back home,so please can you loan me some money till i get back home? i will pay you back as soon as i’m home..
8:47pm Elias
do you have your passport? and who is your credit card with?
8:50pm Rhiannon
yes i still have my passport but my creditcard was also stolen as well
8:50pm Elias
I understand that, but you can get $500 in emergency cash straight away and an amergecy card sent to you within 48 hours
8:50pm Rhiannon
I need you to loan me $650 to get the hell out of here
8:52pm Elias
ok, you are asking me to give you money despite me not speaking to you for over 4 years. but you are not answering any of my questions which could get you out of you situation without me having to give you money which I am not going to do because this is potentially someone that’s hacked into your account
8:53pm Rhiannon
wtf?
8:53pm Elias
who is your credit card with!
8:53pm Rhiannon
You work at Nick’s Seafood Restaurant from 2002 to 2003.
8:53pm Elias
what town are you in?
yes, my facebook profile says that
who was the manager at nicks?
8:55pm Rhiannon
i am in kentish town
9:11pm Elias
Rhiannon I want to help you, but need to speak on the phone. I can’t send money because it’s sunday night here, and I’m not confident about your identity right now. If you can find a number I will call you and see what I can do
9:14pm Rhiannon
Elias i don’t know what else you want me to tell you or how else you want me to prove myself to you
all i know is that if you were to be stranded in another country i wouldn’t even think of it twice before helping you out
Ofcourse you can have the money wired online .. you don’t have to fo to the bank
9:15pm Elias
Well I am still online talking to you, so clearly I’m not blowing you off. But I am not stupid either.
Find a phone, give me the number, and let’s chat
9:19pm Rhiannon
Hotel Manager’s # +447024019672
9:21pm Elias
the number is busy. I’ll keep trying
9:24pmRhiannon
ok
9:24pm Elias
what hotel? maybe i can call reception?
Hi Elias!
The same thing happened to me from Mark Neely’s Account!!!
Conversation Below…
7:34pm
Hi Nick
hey mark
7:35pm Mark
how are you
7:37pm Mark
well
am in a mess
am stranded here in London
7:37pm Nick
london is a big city! how can you be stranded ?
7:38pm Mark
was robbed at the hotel i stay
all my stuff
cash,card even my phones was stolen at gunpoint
7:40pm Mark
are you there?
7:40pm Nick
ohh wow thats hectic
you have travel insurance?
7:41pm Mark
it was a nasty experience
am just glad am still alive and still have my passports secured
no,i do not have any insurance
it was silly of me
7:42pm Nick
are you on twitter?
ahh yes
just saw your tweet
7:45pm Nick
where in london are you?
7:45pm Mark
North London
7:57pmMark
are you there please talk to me
7:59pm Nick
i just poped downstairs
had to drop off something to a friend
:):)
8:00pm Mark
i need your help
cant you help out of this my predicament?
8:00pm Nick
Apparantly tetris is beneficial if you have had a traumatic experience http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/jan/07/tetris-trauma-cure
http://www.freetetris.org/
im on the other side of the world!
what do you need?
8:01pm Mark
i need your help to get out of here as fast as possible
all i need is financial help to get out of this place back home and immediately i return i shall refund the money back
8:02pm Nick
why do you need to leave? what about your travel plans?
8:02pm Mark
am going back home
am not in the postion to continue now
8:03pm Nick
ok
ill be honest dude, ive never met you in person and dont feel comfortable
8:03pm Mark
i will pay back immediately am back home
8:03pm Nick
we should run a http://www.chipin.com/ campaign
on twitter
and get the whole community to chuck in
8:04pm Mark
can you wire the money to me now cos i have a flight to catch if i could meet up
8:07pm Nick
ill be upfront dude im cant loan you the $
im happy to help run a http://www.chipin.com/ campaign to raise money from the community
8:08pm Mark
you cant help me out now when i needed it most
8:09pm Nick
If you are indeed Mark Neely, where did we meet?
8:09pm Mark
OMG
meaning you have been doubting me since
i should have known
…
End Conversations…
Elias,
Thanks so much for writing about this.
This was indeed a hacker who had assumed my identity (I believe through phishing) and not me. I was horrified to learn my identity was assumed in this manner and so many people I knew were affected. You were one of, at a guess, around 60 people on my friends list who was contacted for bank account details, so this was a particularly aggressive campaign and a really distressing one for me and others involved.
I have since found out around 5 others in Australia have had similar things happen to them. The same story (I’m in London – robbed at gunpoint – need around $800) is being recycled in each of these cases and, having had a password I thought to be moderately secure, it seems to me Facebook has a few weaknesses yet to be worked out.
On my part I’m really sorry for the hassle this caused you, but as a Facebook user I’m really disappointed in their lack of facilities for sorting this out. It took more than 48 hours to prove my identity and resume control, far too long considering the potential risk to other users.
Cheers (and thanks for your suspicion – I would have been devastated if you’d lost money over this stupid ploy).
Rhiannon
Wow, that is some advanced phishing there! I imagine it would pull a lot of people in (unless, as in my case, they’d seen Rhiannon in person a couple of days before and knew she wasn’t in the UK).
Hello,
Just like to say I’m so glad I’m tight with my cash because I just got hit with this one today.
It ended with me being blocked from my friends account and deleted. Lovely.
Part of the conversation as follows:
****************
6:47pm Dave
hi
whats up?
6:47pm Katie
hello.. umm nothing much
you
6:49pm Dave
well
am in a mess
6:50pm Katie
why?
what kind of mess?
6:53pmDave
well
am stranded here in London
am stranded here in London
was robbed at the hotel i stayed
6:55pmKatie
fuck. are you ok?
other than having no cash.. you arent hurt?
6:56pmDave
all our stuff
cash,card even our phones was stolen at gunpoint
we are ok
**************************
and then
*************************
8:20pmDave is online.
8:20pmDave
please just let me know if you are helping or not
talk to me now
so i can know what to do
8:22pmKat
Sorry but this is soo strange. Did you know there is a whole page posted from like the 18th onwards with facebook conversations where someone is saying the exact same thing as you are right now. must be alot of it going around… I mean check this out:
Jan 19th, 2009 at 1:25 am
Hi Elias!
The same thing happened to me from Mark Neely’s Account!!!
Conversation Below…
7:34pm
Hi Nick
hey mark
7:35pm Mark
how are you
7:37pm Mark
well
am in a mess
am stranded here in London
7:37pm Nick
london is a big city! how can you be stranded ?
7:38pm Mark
was robbed at the hotel i stay
all my stuff
cash,card even my phones was stolen at gunpoint
8:22pmDave
why?
to help me is now strange
8:25pmDave
are you saying this is a lie then?
8:26pmKatie
Look I know I’m your sisters friend and all but after all of what i just read how do I know it’s you?
8:27pmDave is offline.
Dave is online.
8:28pmDave
what do you wants to know?
to verify,just one thing
8:28pmKatie
How do we know eachother?
8:31pmDave is offline.
**************************************************
After that he came back and told me he couldn’t remember how we met and I proceeded to tell him that he was a scum for taking peoples money and should get a job. Then I got blocked.
LOL I hope to god that wasn’t him or I’m in deep trouble!
Thanks guys
haha, I can’t believe someone actually got to tell one of these guys they’re scum. that’s awesome! this is unbelievable. I’ve never even heard of something like this happening.
Wow that’s really interesting – the fact that she can use facebook chat but not a phone is letting her tale down.. but the rest of it is pretty convincing. She even pulls out your employment history!
This is pretty concerning because it will have a much better conversion rate than the typical medical-related stuff you get in your email spam.
This just happened to me today, I’m so glad I found this out.
The message came from an old classmate I had’nt spoken to in years. I They asked for $515 to pay the hotel bill and $85 extra cash to use. I asked them for the hotel name and phone number in Kentish Town. They gave me the name Sector Hotel (which doesnt exist) and this number: +442074039835. I googled the number and it apparently is a scam number listed online. They wanted the money SO fast, and said their flight was in 3 hours.
I asked her to confirm how she knew me, because she was acting so coldly and unlike herself. and she just couldnt answer, so i logged out immediately and shut down the chat. She immediately blocked me off facebook.
this person is now probably chatting to all her “friends” for money.
I’m freaked out by the fact that that person had access to my facebook page, pics, where i work etc..
This jsut happened to me. I can’t log in, can’t do anything – and I know friends are chatting with “me” because they have rung me! How did you get this resolved. I need to get this done ASAP as I don’t know which of my friends could get sucked in by “me”!
You need to email abuse@facebook.com
and speak with facebook about this so that they can do something about it ASAP. go to http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=419 and follow instructions on what to do at the bottom under ABUSE.
In the meantime, maybe get one of your friends online to post a note to all your friends saying not to believe the person who is trying to get money.
Lucas – sorry to hear that. There doesn’t appear to be much you can do other than flagging it to Facebook and waiting for them.
I would also privately message your friends in someway to let them know.
Lucas,
Best you spread the word among your friends any way you can. Send a mass email, tell your friends to post on your wall, tell them to change their status announcing that your account has been hacked and call your parents and close friends first – they’re the ones most likely to send money without question. Finally, if any of your friends do send money, tell them to call their bank immediately and halt the payment. I believe this is possible.
Sorry to hear this and good luck..
Thanks – I have sent a message to all my ‘friends’ on facebook. First I sent an email to everyone in my email address book. I had my security on max for Facebook so that only friends could see my friends – so I couldn’t see them! A friend of mine took screen shots of all my friends, so I sent them all an individual message form a new Facebook profile (a temp one – I am not going back to facebook) letting them know. So I guess if any of them fall for this scam, then it is their own stupidity! I hardly use facebook anyway – just accept friends, but never update it – and that is what one friend said these people look for. Dormant accounts. Or ones that appear that way! Thanks to everyone for their advice! We’ll see how long it takes for Facebook to get back to me, if ever!
I received the exact same email on a friend’s facebook account. Robbed in London, Brutal experience etc etc. As a result I’m out of Facebook! Cups of tea here with friends instead or the good ole telephone or LETTER !
That is hilarious, since they are using the same tactics. It looks like the same folks moved on to the great US of A. Facebook should at least put a warning on their chat system for those unaware. ESPECIALLY since one of their biggest bylines are “real people”.
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Well, someone from Facebook contacted me this morning and asked me to verify that I was lucas, by asking me my mothers maiden name. I responded by asking how do I know they are facebook, as the phishing started with a fake email, I think. They didn’t reply, but I don’t appear on Facebook anymore!
Wow, this same thing happened to me yesterday, except, the person asked my friends to send money via WESTERN UNION. The hotel name and story were exactley the same. Every friend who asked probing questions was de-friended and blocked from my account. By the time my friends started calling me the hacker had already changed my login info AND also go into my gmail account. Facebook barely responded and it took hours for them to shut down my account.
As time went on the hacker became smarter and smater using the bits and pieces of info “he” learned about me along the way until he got to the point where my true friends really believed I was in trouble in London. In fact, one even made the transfer.
Facebook has no answers for me and is STILL contesting my true identity believe it or not. I am filing a police report to the online crime division of the NYPD and reaching out to the press.
This hacker is top-notch and needs to be caught.
If anyone has more info on this hacker please post!
Overnight I received a message from a friend also stating he was at the Sector Hotel, with a phone number. Of course I called it, and it wasn’t a hotel.
As I’m currently on vacation myself, I called home and spoke to another friend to see if they new anything about the friend the message was coming from being overseas. They had no idea either.
Basic challenge questions couldn’t be answered.
When I finally asked “Where is your fiance? How is she?” and got the response “She’s with me”. They were busted.
My friend is gay, AND single.
I told them they were bullshitting arseholes and was instantly deleted and blocked.
It took several more calls and emails to my actual friend before I could alert him to his facebook account being hacked. He’s relieved, and fortunately none of his friends were scammed.
Admittedly I came close, but something didn’t feel right, so I questioned it.
Everything I’ve read online about this scam has been identical to my experience.
It pays to be skeptical.
A similar situation occurred just now with an account of an old school friend. I’ve been trying to keep them talking, though, in case that helps Facebook track them — and just messaging people quietly.
Log below:
——-
Erin
hi there
how are you?
9:55amSara
Hi!
Ok… tired. You?
9:56amErin
well im stuck here in london and i really need help with flying back home
9:57amSara
How in the world are you in London? :):)
9:58amErin
i had to visit a resort here in london with my fiance for vacation and we got robbed at the hotel we are staying
9:58amSara
Yikes!
I assume you’ve spoken to the hotel?
Have you called the US Consulate?
9:59amErin
yes,we talked to the lazy US embassy over the phone but its taking them time and process to get us help
10:00amSara
That’s so awful — I’m sorry to hear that’s happened to you. :(:(
10:00amErin
yes, its really sucks and scary here and we need help with flying back home
10:00amSara
Help how so?
10:01amErin
we need help with getting on a plane back home
10:02amSara
How can I help? It’s many years since we’ve talked so I don’t really know what I can do…
I lived in London, you know, so I have friends there if you need something?
10:02amErin
yes and thats why im feeling reluctant to ask for help
10:04amSara
If there’s something I can do please feel free to ask and I’ll say yes if I can. But I promise to say no if it’s not something I can do.
I’m certainly not going to be upset with you for asking.
10:12amErin
yes i know
10:14amErin
i’m back
i was busy filling out some forms with the police
well what we need is some cash to complete our tickets fee till im back home to pay back
i’ll get it from the ATM for you as soon as im back home and refund you back
10:15amSara
Oh, hon. I wish I could… but I have literally no money.
10:15amErin
ushhh
10:16amSara
I’m sorry. :(:(
I do know the Consulate will fly you home in that sort of situation… call their emergency number, seriously. Or just go to the Consulate as soon as you’re done dealing with the English police.
10:18amErin
we talked to the lazy US embassy over the phone but its taking them time and process to get us help
10:20amSara
:(:(
I really wish I could help.
10:21amErin
well its ok
i can understand
10:23amSara
If there’s any other way I can help at all, perhaps getting you in touch with people in London I know & trust, please let me know.
10:24amErin
yes, that would help
10:26amSara
Okay. Where exactly in London are you? Which hotel?
10:27amErin
im in north london, kentish town
Sector Hotel
10:31amSara
Give me a few minutes to see if I can get in touch with some people, okay?
10:31amErin
ok
10:48am
Erin NEEDS HELP URGENTLY.
10:56amErin
any luck?
10:56amSara
No, not yet. :(:(
10:56amErin
ughh
10:56amSara
I’m still trying.
10:57amErin
ok
10:58amSara
Is there a phone number there in case I do reach someone and you’re not online?
This scammer is still active, weeks later. Same story, robbed at “Sector Hotel” Kentish Town, need $600 to change tickets to get home. I went so far as to transfer money by Western Union but then thought to try my friend at home and she was there, not in London. Was able to cancel the transfer before it got picked up, fortunately. Western Union was not interested in trying to catch the person who I still had on FB chat. Tried to announce the scam as a comment on her Wall but it was deleted and I was unfriended. Way too easy to get fooled, good lesson for me.
Scammer is still active. Luckily I googled this thread and asked the poser “who is this” at which point I was defriended and blocked.
Hope this person gets caught and rots in hell.
I was just phished yesterday – so it’s still going around, and I have no idea how I got scammed, because I am usually pretty good about questioning random links, etc… the weird thing is, this person also gained access to my email account – not just facebook, and they were trying to talk to my friend while I was online at the same time, so I saw phantom messages of “I need urgent help” showing up in between my conversation with my friend. It scared the begeezus out of me that they were able to do that while I was online simultaneously. FB has not resolved my situation, and I am currently locked out of my own profile because they changed the PW on me.
Does anyone know how long it takes to recover your old profile back?
For other people’s info, I emailed abuse@facebook.com and someone emailed me back within a day or two.
got a smilar experience right now – thanks for posting this prior to my chat with “cori”… she didn’t answer after i sent her this link ;))
how tremendously stupid are these people!? read here my conversation:
Cori
Hello
19:25K Achim
hi
19:25Cori
how are you?
19:25K Achim
i am fine – how’re you?
you need urgent help!?
19:26Cori
yes
19:26K Achim
at what!?
for waht!?
what
;);)
19:26Cori
i’m in a mess here and i need help urgently
i will be glad if you can help
19:27K Achim
hope so – what exately
19:27Cori
i’m stuck and stranded here in london and i need help with flying back home
19:28K Achim
where is your home!?
19:29Cori
i had to visit a resort in london on vacation and i was robbed at the park close to the hotel where i stayed
19:29K Achim
and now!?
19:29Cori
i was robbed at a gun point and all cash on me got stolen including my credit cards and phone
19:29K Achim
did you inform the police, did the hotel help you out!?
19:30Cori
they are on it
but not helping in getting me home
it was a bitter experience and i was hurt on my left hand
19:32Cori
all i need from you now is help in getting on a plane back home
19:36K Achim
the hotel has your credit card digits – they will book everthing for you, relax, you don’t need cash – hey – london is not capetown ;);)
19:37Cori
they don’t have it
19:37K Achim
what hotel are you booked at!?
which…
19:37Cori
and the card has been canceled due to unauthorized used
i need you to loan me some cash to join with what i have here to sort the flight and get on a plane back home
as soon as i get back home tomorrow you can have it back
19:39K Achim
that’s a great offer cori, but i don’t lean money to people i don’t know except an online game… now – i have some reachout, so tell me – which hotel are you at
19:42Cori
?
?
19:43K Achim
once you tell me which hotel you stay at – maybe i can help you to get them arrange everything…
19:43Cori
Sector Hotel in kentish Town in North london
and also i need to settle the hotel bills also
19:46K Achim
http://eliasbizannes.com/blog/2009/01/phishing-for-fraud-on-facebook/
19:49K Achim
cori!?
I just received the same thing from a friend i havent seen for years i used to play football with. Same thing sector hotel 82 kentish town road or somethin…i deleted the convo cuz i got annoyed after sayin he was flyin home from britain airport on sosoliso airline. What a joke, this time is was for unpaid hotel bills…how is this happening on different peoples convo’s?