Residents beware of a new cyber scam making its way into unsuspecting email boxes. Early this monrning I received an email from someone I know with the following message:

I’m writing this message to you with sadness. I traveled down to London for a short vacation and unfortunately for me, i was mugged at knife point last night at the park of the hotel where i lodged and all cash, credit cards and cell phone were all taken away.

I’ve been to the embassy and the Police here but they’re not helping issues at all, My flight leaves in less than 8hrs from now and i am having problems settling the hotel bills.
The hotel manager won’t let me leave until i settle the hotel bills now am freaked out. I need a loan from you to return back home and i want you to get back to me if you will be able to help me.

This was an acquaintance and not someone I knew well and it was obvious that it was sent to many recipients. Not wanting to leave someone stranded over in England, but not wanting to fall for an Interenet scam, I emailed back and requested confirmation that it was in fact my friend. The person immediately responded thanking me for helping and providing my friend’s home address and other personal details. However, they did not answer the specific questions I had asked and would not give a hotel address or phone number to contact them at. Instead they gave a Western Union address and asked for the MTCN tracking number. NEVER SEND MONEY BY WESTERN UNION , the person picking up the transaction only needs the transaction number and there is no way to trace the recipient. Also, never send your credit card information or other personal details via email.

BEWARE OF THIS SCAM. If you receive an email like this from a friend, it means their email account has been compromised (hacked!) and other personal details. Notify the person immediately by phone to let them know their details have been compromised and they should change their email password. I’d also recommend that they call their credit card companies and the credit bureau to ensure no other personal information has been compromised.

Report this type of internet fraud to your local RCMP or Police (non-emergency line) and to the Better Business Bureau that keeps people advised about various internet scams.

(written by Tracy Green.)