A couple of days later my cousin contacted me about an e-mail he received from my sister wanting to know is she was alright. Here's that e-mail: (I've changed the names to protect the Innocent.)
This message may be coming to you as a surprise but I need your help.Few days back we made an unannounced vacation trip to London,UK. Everything was going fine until last night when we got mugged on our way back to the hotel,all cash and credit card were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.
I've been to the Embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all they asked us to wait for 3weeks but we can't wait till then and our flight leaves in few hours from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the hotel bills, we are freaked out at the moment ... I really need your financially assistance Please let me know if you can help us out?
you can wire the money to me through western union all you need is the Name on my passport and location below.
lost in London (name)
Location:7 Walworth Road London, SE17 1RL, United Kingdom
Amount:$1,450
I'll def refund your cash as soon as i get home.
Lost in London Cousin
MY COUSIN RESPONDS:
Lost in London Cousin,
Just got your message. I can help. Have them call me.
Your Stateside Cousin
HE THEN GETS THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE:
Dear Stateside Cousin,
Glad you replied back,I would like you to know that my phone stolen by the muggers during the robbery incident only have access to emails for now..maybe when i get to the hotel i will tell the hotel manager to call you,right now am in a local library looking for help online..please let me know if you can head to WU outlet now and get the money wired as soon as i get back home tomorrow would def refund the money back to you tomorrow...our return light leaves in few hours from now...
Keep me posted!!
Lost in London Cousin.
Well, right away I knew my sister wasn't stuck in London. One thing that jumped out to me was the message referred to "We". My sister is single. Also the hotel wouldn't let her leave. My answer would be to, Just walk away. Anyway my Cousin was ready to send money. So be wary of any type of e-mail you may get like this.
I now believe it was my sisters address book and e-mail that got hijacked, and someone got my address book. So if you get an e-mail where I'm requesting money sent to a London or some foreign address, don't sent it.
That having been said, it you would like to send me money out of the kindness of your heart, feel free to do so.
On another topic, you may have noticed the blog has a new look. I've made it easier to navigate. You can now go to the bottom of the page and see links to "Older Posts" and "Newer Posts". Also you can click on the "Blog Archive" links on the right side and look for a previous post by title. Lastly there is a new "Clustrmap" in the upper right hand corner. You can click on it and see how many hits there has been on the blog and where people who view the blog are from.
