An Internet scam-a false ‘call for help’

Last week a friend called me and told me that she had lost her email box to hackers. The next day I received and email that was from my friends email box asking me for some money, I was really surprised as to how she got her email box back and I found out to my amazement that she did not send the proposed message and that it was a false call for help. After asking her some question it was now crystal clear that the defaulter might not be web-techies or hackers, they might not even know the least about hacking how this happened I was yet to find out. After thorough discussion, she told me that she responded to an email that she presumed to be the customer care center asking her for her password, date of birth and other details and that they were planning to upgrade their system and prevent the loss of vital information. She unsuspectingly submitted the requested information and behold they logged into her email box changed her password and then sent a false call for help to all her contacts that she was in London, that she had lost her wallet and would need some financial assistance. The message also stated that payment be made in cash through western union and that she would repay them on her return. So friends started calling and asking questions but before any could fall victim to the false call for help, she had alerted all her contacts on phone and told them about the false call for help. So you see that not all friends in need of your help are friends indeed BEWARE OF FALSE CALLS FOR HELP!!!