A recent string of “send me a loan” phishing scams are appearing in UDel inboxes. The email looks like it is from a distressed friend or family member. The scammer will engage in a conversation leading up to them asking you to wire money through a bank or Western Union.
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After the distressing and grammatically incorrect message, scammers sometimes provide the information you need in the original email and wait for you to wire them money:
You can have the $2,250 dollars. wired to me via Western Union. Have it wired to my name and present location, here are the details you need to have it wired to me..
Receiver’s Name: Karen Morgan
Location: 58,Mary cris crecent,quezon city,
Country: manila,Philippines
Once you are done Kindly e-mail me the Confirmation details (MTCN) for the pick up of the funds.
Let me know when you head out to Western Union??
A scammer can hijack someone’s email account and steal their address book. Using that address book, the scammer will send “send me a loan” messages to people in the victim’s address book using a similar email address that is usually only a character off the original. An Example of a stolen email account is if someone uses jondoe1234@yahoo.com, then the scammer will make the fake account jondoe11234@yahoo.com or jondoe1234@live.com.
When you see these messages make sure you verify it is the person before sending money. Asking a personal question or contacting the person and people they know are good ways to catch the scammer. And, as always, never send any personal information over an email.