Can Pastor BK check her email account? I just received this mail from her and it looks like a typical hacker activity. The hacker sends an email to a target who owns an online based email account pretending that the host is updating all accounts.
The hacker then asks for the user name and password of the account, threatening that if this is not done immediately, the account will be closed down. Once the log-in details are sent, the hacker logs into the account, changes the password and sends distress mails to everybody in the address book. Normally, the distress mail suggest that the account holder travelled abroad and is now in crisis after personal belongings were stolen.
The mail then asks for cash to be sent via some channel promising that the sender will repay any amount sent as soon as the account holder is out of trouble and back to base. This scheme has been going on for many years and now, it seems as if the Pastor has become a victim. The email is signed in the name of the Pastor and she needs to check and warn contacts if she has become a victim. Here is the mail…
from: xxxx_xxx@hotmail.com
sender-time Sent at: 1:06 AM (GMT+02:00). Current time there: 11:02 AM. ✆
to: xxxxxx_xxx@hotmail.com
date: Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 1:06 AM
subject: Its emergency, help
mailed-by hotmail.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.
hide details 1:06 AM (9 hours ago)
Hi,
How are you today? I am sorry I did not inform you about my traveling to Africa. I had been in “Lagos/Nigeria” on a mission, I had a misplace of my belonging on my way back to the hotel I’m staying and couldn’t recover them until now which I am terribly stranded at the moment, I am very sorry I did not inform you before I traveled. Please can you help me with a loan of €2500 EUR urgently or any amount you can afford now and have it send to me via Western Union to my name and address below so that I can solve my problems and travel back home.:
Name: Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxx
Address: No.543, ibe road okala closed, isolo lagos, Nigeria.
Text Question: To whom?
Answer: Pastor.
The police only asked me to write a statement about the incident and directed me to the embassy, I had spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the matter effectively, so I decided to contact you because I know you had always been kind. Please remember to e-mail me the money transfer details such as MTCN (money transfer control number) and amount sent. I will check my e-mail later .Thanks for your understanding towards my situations, I am strong right now, and all I need is financial assistance from you to solve my problems and travel back home. Kindly keep this confidential because I don’t want anybody to get worried about me until I travel back. Hope you understand me. I had to walk about 25 minutes to the city library where I can quickly contact you and I have 30mins only on the computer. This is terrible please keep it secret. So if you care to help me out let me know on time so that i can wait here in the City to receive the money from you. I will pay back whatever you can afford to assist me with immediately I traveled back. thank you
XXXXXXX
About the Author
It’s unfortunate when one’s account is hacked into and vital/private information is lost. The “Nigerian 419 Letter/Scam” mentioned above has been in circulation since 2007 and gets modified to fit into various locations:
“How are you doing today? I am sorry i didn’t inform you about my traveling to Africa for a program called “Empowering Youth to Fight Racism HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education, the program is taking place in three major countries in Africa which is Ghana , South Africa and Nigeria . It as been a very sad and bad moment for me, the present condition that i found myself is very hard for me to explain. I am really stranded in Nigeria, because I forgot my little bag in the Taxi where my money, passport, documents and other valuable things were kept on my way to the Hotel am staying, I am facing a hard time here because i have no money on me. I am now owning a hotel bill of $ 1550 and they wanted me to pay the bill soon else they will have to seize my bag and hand me over to the Hotel Management., I need this help from you urgently to help me back home, I need you to help me with the hotel bill and i will also need $1600 to feed and help myself back home so please can you help me with a sum of $3500 to sort out my problems here? I need this help so much and on time because i am in a terrible and tight situation here, I don’t even have money to feed myself for a day which means i had been starving so please understand how urgent i needed your help. I am sending you this e-mail from the city Library and I only have 30 min, I will appreciate what so ever you can afford to send me for now and I promise to pay back your money as soon as i return home so please let me know on time so that i can forward you the details you need to transfer the money through Money Gram or Western Union. Regards from yours……………”
Security tips –
1.Don’t make your password easy to guess. Try something alphanumeric. Take it a step further – use a mix of upper and lower case characters.
2.Don’t leave your passwords lying around for everyone to see, such as Post-It notes on your computer monitor.
3.Reset your passwords regularly. High security systems usually prompt users to change their passwords regularly. Moreover, previous passwords cannot be re-used.
4.If you’re using a public internet terminal, remember to disable cookies. Don’t click on “Remember me” when logging in. Make sure you log off properly. Clear the history and cache when you’re done.
5.Don’t let people watch you type in your password. Some people tend to hang around when you’re logging in. Ask them to turn away. Or, lean forward and use your body to block their view.
6.If you feel awkward telling people to shove off, one trick is to type wrong characters in between your password, and then delete them. If you can repeat this sequence quickly, all the better. I’ve done this on a number of occasions.
7.Be vigilant about mails asking for password resets. Google and all credible service providers often repeat that they would never ever ask for user account password for resetting purposes.
8.Keep your passwords for email accounts separate from all other social networking sites.
9.Assume that passwords stored on handphones, diaries, documents in laptops etc. will be stolen. If you must write down passwords, use codes that you can remember in place of numbers.
http://vantan.org/archives/2007/09/security_warnin.php
I have always told my fellow Christians that the devil has entered in Christianity and you can not know it unless you have a detective scaner in your spirit. Do not believe in the words Praise the Lord or Halleluyah or I am born again. The devil can speak in any languages even in tongues the Christians think is from God the creater in Heaven. First of all the Devil came from Heaven just note that.
Now to stop the scam of e-mail or facebook hackers is to contact the victim’s Church on an assistant Pastor on a different phone to make sure that you are sending the money to the right person. I have witnessed the same case in my area. Do not trust anyone who says Lord Lord to be the right person many will come in those names while they are wolves in sheeps skin. Jesus said that. Many Church goers are criminals who pretent to be good people. We must have spiritual scaner to detect such evil spirits among ourselves.