Your Friend didn't get Mugged in London

Your Friend didn't get Mugged in London

I suspect that no one reading this website is foolish enough to fall for this scam, but I thought I'd share my experience with it anyway.

It starts with an email from someone you know:

Hello,

I'm sorry for this odd request because it might get to you too urgent but it's due to the situation of things right now.

I'm stuck in London, England right now, I came down here for a short vacation then i was robbed, worse of it is that bags, cash and cards and my cell phone were stolen at GUN POINT, it's such a crazy experience for me, I need help flying back home, the authorities are not being 100% supportive but the good thing is i still have my passport and return ticket but currently having troubles paying off the hotel bills and also getting a cab to take me to the airport.

Please i need you to loan me some money, will refund you as soon as i'm back home, i promise.All i need is ($900 USD) but dont know how much you would be able to spare..we will be waiting to hear back from you on how you can get the fund to me please

Thank You
--
Anna Cockerham (name changed)

Cloudjackers Ltd | C.D.S.C Engineers

The first time I got one, I wrote back inquisitively:

Hi Anna,
Sorry about that! We can do it.
How do you want the money sent?

-Marvin Frankson

and got a quick reply:

Hey babe,

Don't send any money!!! My gmail and facebook have been hacked any conversations that have taken place in the last 8 hours have not been me!!!

Anna Cockerham

The second time it happened, just yesterday, the message was very similar, although I don't recognise Theodore's name.

Hi there,

How are you? we made a trip to London (United Kingdom) unannounced a few days back for a short vacation, unfortunately we got robbed at gunpoint last night! All cash, credit card and phone were stolen, we're screwed up in another country, stranded in London, fortunately our passport was back in the hotel room. It was a bitter experience and I was hurt on my right hand, but I would be fine. I send you this message cos I do not want anyone to panic, we want you to keep it that way for now! Our flight leaves in few hours time, But we're having trouble sorting the hotel bills, this is painful as we do not have enough to get us home. Please I want you to lend me a sum of $2,000, but would appreciate whatever you can spare!!..just to clear our hotel bills and get the next plane home.. Can you spare that much? we would have your money refunded immediately on our return.

Kindly help me send the money via Western Union Money Transfer to my name and hotel address below.

Theodore Sawchuck
10 Beaufort Gardens London SW3 1PT
United Kingdom

Get back to me with the details as soon as you are done wiring the money..Will really appreciate your support and guidance. Sorry for the inconvenience that I might cause.

With Love and Respect:
Ted

Again I wrote back, eager to help:

Oh no!
The guys at Western Union said I need a phone number to transfer the money. Do you have one you can use?

-Miles

This time, they wrote back with a new name:

Oh dear, Glad to hear back from you, thank you so much, It has really been embarrassing for me. $2,000 will cover all my expenses, I promise to refund it to you as soon as I arrive home. You can wire it to my name and hotel address here from any western union outlet around. Here are the details you need to get it to me -

Mary Hayes
272, Coriander Avenue, Docklands, E14 2AA ,
London United Kingdom
+44 702 402 8619

The hotel accepts cash payment only...It is with profound sense of sadness i wrote that email to you. I don't know how you will find this but you just have to forgive me for not telling you before leaving...

As soon as you are done sending the money, please get back to me with the payment details...The hotel's telephone lines have been disconnected due to some technical problems, I hope things work out with it soon. I have access to only emails for now...

Await your response as i have missed my flight, but rescheduled it

Ted...

I'll follow up & try to get Ted/Mary home, but in the meantime, be on the lookout for this type of scam. Be particularly wary of Western Union transfers, because only a photo ID is needed to pick up the money, and the recipient can pick it up from any location without leaving any trail whatsoever.

Comments:

Name: Anna

Rob, you jerk, I'm still stuck in London. The authorities are NOT being 100% supportive over here.

United Kingdom
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 12:02 am

Name: You or Me

I think any email message containing the phrase "Western Union" should just be blackholed. I challenge you to show me an email with that phrase in it that wasn't somehow related to a scam.

Azerbaijan
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 1:07 am

Name: SCAMY MCSPAMPANTELONIAS

$10 will turn into $100 of happiness

United Kingdom
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 6:04 am

Name: Jessica

Those emails are entertaining enough (though unfortunate for the unsuspecting people who get hacked), but the real joy is the dozen follow-up emails from mutual friends saying "OMG IT'S A SCAM DON'T DO IT!!!!!" Thank you, mutual friends, for protecting me from the big scary internets.

Nicaragua
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 6:18 am

Name: Jojo

Send them one dollar. See what response you get.

Marshall Islands
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 6:35 am

Name: Invincible

I don't know about you guys, but the one time I helped a Nigerian Prince out he gave me 2 million dollars and my own resort on the coast. Sometimes you just have to trust people.

Nigeria
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 6:44 am

Name: Cornloaf

Check out www.419eaters.com for some great resources on "baiting" these scum.

The Philippines
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 7:47 am

Name: It's your favorite grandson!

The sickest ones are the phone calls to the elderly with vague greetings-"Hi Grandma." And the scheme is for the elderly person on the other end to slip a name of a real grandchild, without thinking. Then, the spiel of "I'm in jail, etc" followed by "I need money" and most of the time, they get it.

Iceland
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 8:04 am

Name: ddbunny

This scam totally happened to me, and I did have to send out about 100 emails with a "no I'm not in England" message. My poor grandfather called my aunt asking why I was in England, and why he didn't know about it.

England
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 12:29 pm

Name: max

London, England syndrome.

Australia
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 2:37 pm

Name: Constantine Ipswitch

I blame the volcano.

Iceland
Wednesday 21st of April 2010 6:22 pm

Name: Koolkat

It happened over facebook chat when a friends of mine account got hacked. Little did they know that I was in England at the time and was ready to take a train down to help out said friend. When they kept on getting vague about where exactly they were I figured to call them on it, especially as I had the real friend on google chat making sure she wasn't stranded in London.

England
Thursday 22nd of April 2010 6:01 am

Name: Skip

I hope I never actually need some cash after getting mugged in London. "No Dad, it's really me, Skip!" "Like hell it is. I know all about this scam!" "Honestly, it's really me. We grew up on Fordham Street and my first pet was a hamster named Othello." "You probably found that info in my son's computer. Die scammer!"

United States
Thursday 22nd of April 2010 9:55 am

Name: Ted, I mean, Mary

Yay, just a few more of this transfers and my sex change op is underway!

Haiti
Thursday 22nd of April 2010 10:49 am

Name: Kernel Livinstrone

Rob, the whole of London is currently stranded in London due to a suspicious cloud of ash which causes planes to be too heavy to leave the ground. Silly scam-merchants are silly scam-merchants every time.

Swaziland
Thursday 22nd of April 2010 2:47 pm

Name: Who Me?

Ok, so what happens if you are _FROM_ England?!?

England
Thursday 22nd of April 2010 10:26 pm

Name: Mr. Kirsch

What pisses me off is that this jerk is screwing it up for all of us who really are stuck in London. Please send cash now.

Afghanistan
Friday 23rd of April 2010 12:54 pm

Name: Abubaka Jibirin

FROM THE DESK OF MR ABUBAKA JIBIRIN BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER BANK OF AFRICA. OUAGADOUGOU,BURKINA FASO. TOP SECRET Dear Friend I am MR ABUBAKA JIBIRIN the bill and exchange manager at the foreign remittance department of BANK OF AFRICA. I got your contact from the internet ,while seaching for an honest and trust worthy person, who will assist me to implement this transfer. l discovered the sum of Twenty Two million and five hundred thousand United States Dollars (USD22.5M) belonging to a deceased customer of this bank. The fund has been lying in a suspence account without anybody coming to put claim over the money since the account owner late Mr Salla khatif from Lebanese , who was involved in the December 25th 2003 Benin plane crash. Here is the air crash website on cnn = http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/12/26/benin.crash/index.html The said fund is now ready for transfer to a foriegn account whose owner will be portrayed as the beneficiary and next of kin to the deceased customer of the bank. Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next if kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidlines and laws but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim. It is therefore upon this discovery that I decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and I don't want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed bill. The banking law and guidline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after five years, the money will be transfered into the bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occassioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and a Burkinabe cannot stand as next of kin to a foreigner. I therefore soliciting for your assistance to come forward as the next of kin. I have agreed that 40% of this money will be for you as the beneficiary in respect of the provision of your Account and services rendered, 55% would be for me while 5% will be for expencses incured during the cause of thIS transaction If the money is transferred to your Account from BANK OF AFRICA, I and my family in this transaction will proceed immediately to your country for our own share of the money. I expect you to keep this business strictly confidential and secret as you may wish to know that I am Bank official. Be rest assured that this business is 100% risk free on both side and every arrangement to transfer this money to the Account you are going to provide have been concluded provided we maintain the confidentiality and secreceirity involved. Contact me on my email address I am looking forward for your prompt response. Yours faithfully, MR ABUBAKA JIBIRIN,

Burkina Faso
Friday 23rd of April 2010 1:56 pm

Name: Ben

Oh no! I'm stuck in England because of this volcano that stopped my plane from bringing me home! Peter Griffins volcano insurance doesn't seem such a bad idea now!

Iceland
Friday 23rd of April 2010 11:46 pm

Name: Luke

It's not hacking — it's messages from Opposite Earth in Dimension X accidentally crossing the planar divide. Don't worry, though, everything is opposite in Opposite Earth, so getting mugged there is like getting helped by a stranger here, and getting robbed is like winning the lottery.

Bhutan
Monday 26th of April 2010 4:56 am

Name: Happy Dude

Greetings, friends. Do you wish to look as happy as me? Well, you've got the power inside you right now. So, use it, and send one dollar to: Happy Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Don't delay, eternal happiness is just a dollar away.

Afghanistan
Monday 26th of April 2010 9:41 pm

Name: JimsShip

Jojo's suggestion isn't so bad. Send the 2 dollars and tell them it's 2 thousand dollars. I'd like to see if they argue with the Western Union people. Try and get a scout in England to video it.

United States
Tuesday 27th of April 2010 11:50 pm

Name: Felis

Happened to me once, and it was from someone in my address book who I worked with once in a show, and whom I hadn't talked to in about 5 years. My initial thought was that it was real, but was pissed off enough that this is the first I've heard from the guy in 5 years and he's asking for money?! The hell?!?!? LOL.

Canada
Friday 30th of April 2010 10:25 am

Name: Hovercraft

Hovercraft

Afghanistan
Saturday 01st of May 2010 6:14 am

Name: Alastor

I received an email similar to this but it was from a friend's email account claiming that she was stuck in "London for a program" and lost all her money. I wrote back not knowing whether or not this was due to her account being used by someone else or if it was genuine. I basically said sorry but I can't and let me know what happens. Haven't heard a single thing about it.

Belgium
Sunday 02nd of May 2010 12:15 pm

Name: Alastor

Unfortunately that email was the only method I had of contacting this childhood friend of mine as she lives quite far away.... oh wells.

Belgium
Sunday 02nd of May 2010 12:17 pm

Name: Concerned Friend

"The hotel accepts cash payment only... The hotel's telephone lines have been disconnected due to some technical problems,.." Dear Ted/Mary, That hotel sounds pretty seedy, if you ask me. Please move out of there ASAP and wait at a safe place. I have a cashiers check for $5000 that I'll send to you. You keep the $2,000 for your expenses, and send me the balance via Western Union...

United Kingdom
Sunday 02nd of May 2010 12:23 pm

Name: Scambaiter

You should see what the guys at 419eater got the scammers to do in an effort to "prove" they were real.

Nigeria
Sunday 02nd of May 2010 10:14 pm

Name: derrick