Carolyn Grant
Police are continually warning against scams, and scammers are continually coming up with creative ways to continue to scam.
A new scam making the rounds via email is a request for funds to help out an acquaintance who has been robbed in a foreign country.
This one is very hard to resist, as the writer describes being stranded in a foreign country with no money or credit cards, just a passport, after a supposed theft.
Betty Aitchison from Kimberley received just such an email on Tuesday morning this week. It was from someone she knew, Darryl Bishop of Cranbrook, who is involved with the Sunrise Rotary Club's Rockies Film Series.
In the scam, the writer — supposedly Bishop — tells the recipient that he and his family are trapped in Manila, Philippines after being robbed. They have eight hours to catch their flight, and the police and embassy are not being helpful. The request is for 1,850 Euros, with the assurance that it will be paid back as soon as the writer returns to Canada.
Of course, Darryl Bishop never left Canada. His email was hacked.
“I have been hacked,” Bishop said. “Unfortunately the email went out to all 230 contacts of the Rockies Film Series.”
Interestingly, Bishop says he received a similar email a few weeks ago from someone in the United States.
“I found myself a little torn between disbelief and hoping that the person was all right. It’s fairly convincing.”
Bishop says he doesn’t know if him receiving an email like that is related to his account being hacked. However, he assures everyone that his password has now been changed and there should be no more emails like that sent out.
Incidentally, the Rockies Film Series presents Inescapable on Thursday, November 1 at the Columbia Theatre at 7 p.m.