Look out for e-mail scam

By Shelley Smithssmith@salisburypost.com

On Wednesday morning, Wayne Mullis got a shock as he tried to log into his business e-mail account. It had been locked due to security concerns and wouldn't be accessible for the next 24 hours.

He later found out the reason for the lockdown: His e-mail account had been hacked, and a mass e-mail had been sent to just about everyone in his address book.

The false e-mail claimed Mullis had been mugged in London, and it urged the recipient to wire money to him through Western Union so he could pay his final hotel bill.

"I sent out an e-mail to everyone to let them know I was here, I'm fine and have not been mugged," Mullis said. "So far I haven't found anyone who has believed it."

Unfortunately, the e-mail was sent to Mullis' Civitan e-mail list as well, which reached nationwide contacts.

"I called Civitan headquarters in Birmingham and told them what had happened," Mullis said. "It's a big mess.

"How they (the hacker) got it, I have no idea."

Mullis said that for some time when he logged into his Yahoo e-mail account, he received notification that someone had been attempting to access it.

"I've tried to notify everyone that might have gotten the e-mail," Mullis said.

Mullis is not the only local person who has been a victim of the scam.

Robert Jones of Salisbury had the same thing happen in May of 2009, and someone who received the phony distress e-mail sent in his name actually wired a large amount of money to "London."

The account was for the Lee Street Theatre — where Jones is president — with over 500 contacts, folders and photos.

"It was what I needed to run Lee Street," Jones said.

Jones said he made the mistake of replying to what looked like a legitimate e-mail from Hotmail and Microsoft. The e-mail asked him to enter his Hotmail user name and password due to his account being "inactive" for some time.

"It looked authentic," he said. "I didn't think anything of it at the time."

Two days later, Jones said, he received calls from North Carolina about the e-mail.

"The account was locked up," he said. "I couldn't get into it.

"I actually had someone send money. I went with them to the police when I got back to town and we filed a report."

Jones said as he went through the process of changing his password, the hacker changed the password again on him.

He eventually got things straightened out but said it was one of the biggest lessons he's ever learned.

"It's a real pain," he said. "You always learn a lesson from something.

"Now I don't open up any e-mails unless I know where they're coming from," Jones said, referring to the sender's e-mail address. "If there are any questions, you should always check where the e-mail is coming from."

Attorney General Roy Cooper said this is a twist on an old telephone scam.

"We can trace this scam back to the telephone calls," Cooper said. That scam targets senior citizens, and the scammer poses as a grandchild, claiming he or she needs money wired to get out of trouble.

"It has just expanded to the world of the Internet," Cooper said. He noted the scam has also reached social networking sites such as Facebook.

"It's a distress letter to all that person's friends, e-mail list," he said. "Of course it's a scam, and they are preying on your friendships."

Cooper recommends that anyone who falls victim to this e-mail scam get in touch the friends and contacts through other means. For social networking sites, Cooper suggests ensuring friend requests from people are legitimate and actually people you know.

"If you respond by e-mail, ask questions only that person will know," he said. "Do those things to ensure that you know the real friend is contacting you. It's a good idea to be especially careful anytime you have a request to send money somewhere."

Cooper said technology allows several ways for hackers and scam artists to access e-mail accounts.

"Be very careful protecting yourself online," he said. "Don't give criminals or con artists a road map, don't accept friend requests from people you don't know, and keep virus and spyware up to date."

Captain John Sifford with the Rowan County Sheriff's Office said people should be suspicious if they receive a message such as those hackers sent from the accounts of Mullis or Jones.

"My advice to anyone is to always be suspicious," he said. And don't send money. "Especially if it's someone you don't talk to regularly, and even if it is someone you do talk to regularly."

For more tips for being safe on the Internet, visit the N.C. Department of Justice at www.ncdoj.com.