Thalidomide survivor Louise Medus angry at internet scam

[Wayne]

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/ ... story.html

THALIDOMIDE survivor Louise Medus has been targeted in a high-tech internet fraud scam.

Hackers broke into the 44-year-old charity worker's email account to send out a bogus appeal for help and money.

The heartfelt email said she was stranded in Spain as muggers had stolen her bag.

Louise, from Cheltenham, said the email would have gone to 1,000 Yahoo contacts and 1,203 Facebook friends.

They include 200 fellow Thalidomide victims worldwide and their relatives, as well as doctors and MPs, who have just attended the London conference she has just organised – Thalidomide 50 Years On.

The fake message said: "I am out of the country, Madrid Spain at the moment, I am here for a voluntary training programme (VTP), and unfortunately I just had my bag stolen from me with my passport and personal effects.

"I have been trying to sort things out with the necessary authorities, I need some assistance from you. Let me know if you can be of any help. Louise."

She said: "It's a scam, someone has hacked into my account.

"They've taken my friends for a ride as they're concerned about me.

"If people reply to the email it says I need £400 for a flight back and gives an account number with Western Union.

"I've been in touch with Gloucestershire police, who told me to contact the national fraud division.

"I also contacted Yahoo to say my site has been compromised and they locked it for 12 hours." Louise, who married fellow Thalidomide baby Darren Mansell last year, had about 100 friends offering their assistance but she is still unsure if anyone sent money.

"I just couldn't get in to the account to tell people I'm not in Spain, but in freezing cold and wet England," she said.

"I think the hackers got in after I replied to a scam email from a friend on Twitter saying she was 'aware there were people who hated me'.

"It would be easy to find out I do a lot of voluntary work just by 'Googling' me and make the plea look authentic.

"It's very upsetting that someone gets into your account and more upsetting they're sending out emails to my friends."

A spokesman from the Home Office department Action Fraud said: "Anyone who believes their account has been hacked in this way should contact their email provider and report the incident to Action Fraud.

"Any contacts who have responded to the emails and sent money should immediately contact the money transfer company involved, followed by Action Fraud."

[duckhunter]

It just dawned on me ... I get these things all the time. Do you think one of our site killers would be interested in taking care of them?

[SlapHappy]

The money appears to have been sent Western Union, and we can't very well close them down.

"I think the hackers got in after I replied to a scam email from a friend on Twitter saying she was 'aware there were people who hated me'.

Perhaps this friend's account got hacked and infected with a backdoor keylogger, or the "Friend" might be a scammer in sheep's clothing who got friended on twitter, and trusted by the victim.

[duckhunter]

Far as I know, these things ARE backdoor keyloggers.

Here is one I received a few days ago:

Hey somebody is posting nasty things about you... tinyurl.com/xxxxxxx

Many of them arrive via twitter, but not all. Some say there`s a funny photo of the recipient, others talk of a great online job. Most of course are much like the one above. From what I have learned, the tinyurl link takes one to a site where a keylogger is downloaded onto the recipient`s computer.

Edit to add: Oh gosh, the minute I finished posting here, I got another one:

LMAO...OMG I'm laughing so hard at this picture of you someone found tinyurl.com/xxxxxx