FredMcKinnon.Com

Yesterday I came very close to being the victim of a hack/scam on Facebook.  I’m always very cautious about emails and entering my passwords … but this seemed legit.

I got a desperate IM on Facebook from one of my friends … a guy who’d been on the worship team with me when I lived in Mississippi.  He was telling me that he and his family were in London and had gotten mugged at gunpoint the night before.  They were a few hours from missing their departing flight back to the states but couldn’t pay their hotel bill because all of their cash and credit cards had been stolen.

Since I know this friend, I thought it was legit.  But there was this “discerning” thing happening in me that just didn’t feel comfortable.  Scott (my friend) wanted me to wire the funds via WesternUnion.Com.  That was the first real check.  I don’t wire funds usually.

So I asked if I could make some phone calls to his family back here in the States … no response.
So I asked if the hotel could just call me and I’d pay his bill with my AMEX …. he says “the hotel’s credit card machine is broken”.
So I asked “where are you anyway”.  He says “I’m at a public library”.
So I say, “if their credit card machine is broken, they couldn’t check you out anyway, so just leave and call them back when you are stateside and pay them”.

He says,
“But all of our stuff is still at the hotel, and the manager of the hotel is right here with me” ….

That’s when I get really suspicious.  He keeps insisting on having me wire the money.  I stall for time … (I’m trying to google his home phone and call to see if they are really out of town).  I come back later and the REAL Scott is now on Facebook chat.  His account had gotten hacked.

So I nearly sent a thief $550 because he was posing as one of my real “facebook friends”.

So, if this happens to you, beware.  NEVER wire money to someone, even if you think it’s your friend.  Confirm this stuff on the phone.  If they can’t call you, or you can’t call them, you can’t help them.

Oh yeah, I called my awesome wife during all of this to make sure she was cool with us helping them out … and she says “something doesn’t feel right about this at all”.  I love my wife.

So what about you – have you been the victim of any online scams, or scam attempts?

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