Scam Alert

Hacked email accounts used to scam friends

Most people get emails every day from friends and family, and never think twice that they could be phony.

But beware of suspicious emails from someone you know asking for help or money.

Fake emails look like they are coming from friends’ actual email addresses, with scammers asking for loans or other “help” that could cost you.

Don’t immediately follow instructions in the email, especially if they ask you to wire money anywhere.

Call your friend first to verify their whereabouts before sending money.

Scammers can hack into email accounts and take control of them.The emails are infected with a virus, and when someone opens the infected email attachment, the hacker is able to send out a mass email to all the person’s friends.

According to experts, scammers are also hacking into people’s Facebook accounts and asking their Facebook friends to wire money to foreign countries.

Many people who fall for these scams lose thousands of dollars.

Email companies like Yahoo advise people to have the most updated anti-virus software available on their computers.