One Woman’s Tale of Cybercrime That Goes Pretty Deep

Written on October 15, 2010 – 1:31 am | by Jasmine Haller

We have all gotten used to receiving the scam emails trying to bilk us out of money. Many of these faux emails are from relatives in dire need of money, but they are so poorly written, we know they are fake. Well, we came across a story of a woman who was the target of a cybercrime that went a bit deeper that the usual fake email scam.

Julie Burkhart-Haid of Hudson, NY, knew immediately that something was wrong when on the morning of Oct. 1 friends from all over the nation started to call her with concern. According to the Hudson Star Observer, a number of Julie’s friend had received a long e-mail message for her detailing the fact that they had taken an unexpected trip to Wales and had been robbed at gunpoint. The email from Julie also said that she was injured and nearly raped in front of her son (also identified) and Joseph was seriously injured and still being treated. It went on to say while they still had their passports, they needed $1,800 dollars to pay the hotel bill and buy return tickets.

While this type of cybercrime is not all that new, it does go a bit deeper. Cyber criminals can easily find out the names of our children, spouses and siblings via Facebook and the social networks. So, really, all it takes is someone hacking into a Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail account, drafting up a well-written/convincing email, then you are off to the races.

We all have gotten anesthetized to the poorly written emails that we receive from hackers. But now, they are taking it to the next level. And what does this mean? We need to be smart and vigilant. Don’t fall for this one.

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