VAJEX President’s email hacked
Ben Hirsh, the president of VAJEX, emailed J-Wire today pleading for help after he had been held up at gunpoint in London and had had all his papers and cash stolen.
J-Wire’s editor was a tad wary and emailed Hirsh back for more details. We also checked with the Melbourne offices of the Victorian Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women….only to learn that Hirsh’s email had been hacked. J-Wire is not aware of Many Australians or New Zealanders who use cell-phone when talking about their mobiles!
Hirsh asked J-Wire to alert community members of the scam…and that is what we are doing.
The email we received read:
| I’m sorry for this odd request because it might get to you too urgent but it’s because of the situation of things right now.
I’m stuck in London,England with my family right now, we are here on a short vacation then I was robbed, worse of it is that bags, cash, cards with my cell phone was stolen at GUN POINT, it was such a crazy experience for us and we need help flying back home, the authorities are not being 100% supportive but the good thing is we still have our passports and return tickets but currently having troubles paying off the hotel bills and also getting a cab to take us to the airport. All we need is $1,850.00 but anything you can spare right now will be appreciated and I promise to refund it to you as soon as I arrive back home safely.. You have my word!! Regards, Ben and Hanna |
This is a n old scam. I almost got caught with the same message last year about me to my friends. it is a scam. be aware it makes it hard to retrieve all your email address is if the writer has “stolen ‘ your password as they will have changed it
בס”ד
“Hamodia” has been warning its readers recently about this sort of scam. The scammers apparently get hold of the person’s addressbook and look at recent emails they have sent and try to make it sound real – throwing in Jewish references, but they make mistakes that make one usually want to double-check – but not always. Always check back to the person who supposedly sent you t he email (and do NOT click the return mail arrow!).