Pages

Friday, July 10, 2009

1K in the UK

Okay, so I just had the weirdest conversation ever. An old friend whom I have not seen nor spoken with in over three years (just stayed in touch via the whole facebook thing) randomly messaged me tonight. I thought "hey that's cool - we haven't talked in forever, sure why not." But as the conversation progressed, it honestly left me wondering if my friend's account had been hacked or something. Here's the basis of what was said (I changed the name, and omitted most of my 'reaction' IMs):  

Jane 
hello 
Marisa 
hey there! how's it going? 
Jane 
am not doing good am presently in the UK 
been here 3days now 
the bad news is i was attacked yesterday 
I was robbed coming from the Mall back to my hotel room 
they got away with my money, credit cards e.t.c 
I was luky to have some money and few of my stuffs behind 
Marisa 
how long are you in the UK for? 
Jane 
am suppose to stay till Sat 
just came for a one week vacation to see what it looks like here 
I cant stay anylonger, am scared and worried a lot!!! 
my funds are not enough to settle the hotel bills and purchasing a Flight ticke back home 
Marisa 
oh my gosh are you there by yourself?? 
Jane 
yea 
Marisa i don't know how wiring money works, but could you have someone here wire you money?
Jane 
got some assitance, but the funds are not enough 
can i get a $1,000 loan from you. I will make the refund as soon as i get back please 
Marisa 
i really wish i could help, but i have absolutely zero money in the bank right now :/
i haven't had work since april 
i'm so sorry! :(
Jane oic 
sorry to hear that, can you help me with a loan I will pay back as soon as i return 
Marisa 
i don't have any money to loan :(
Jane okay 
Marisa i have negative money right now  
sorry  
Jane k 
Marisa 
do you have any family who could help you?? 
or you could maybe get into contact with the nearby bishop 
Jane 
dont worry since you cant be of help 
i hope i'll be assisted soon  

Wow, talk about random... and strange. And if Jane truly is in trouble, I feel so awful for her. However, though I may not have talked with her in quite some time, this just doesn't seem like her. And to me it would seem that if you were in a situation similar to this one, you would contact any and all family members first to see if they could help you out. Next, your closest friends. But asking a $1,000 loan of someone you haven't seen in years would be last on my list. Plus, Jane is one of the sweetest and most soft-spoken girls that I know and for her to (1) disregard my initial statement that I had absolutely no money in the bank and proceed to ask a second time, and (2) to end with "don't worry since you can't be of help" the second she's realized I'm not giving her any money just really makes me think someone got into her account without her knowledge, trying to get money out of people. Because I don't know about you, but if I were in a situation like that, I would take any and all advice anyone would be willing to offer!  Regardless, I hope my friend is okay... and if it's a hacker, I hope he/she is stopped as soon as possible!
Anyway, there is my weird tale of the day...

4 comments:

Alyssa said...

Yeah, that's exactly the thing hackers have been saying to get money through facebook. You should see if you can contact Jane outside of facebook to confirm her whereabouts and warn her, if necessary, that her account has been hacked.

Steven said...

It's a common scam. Here's another example I read about a few weeks ago: http://consumerist.com/5263537/bad-luck-facebook-scammer-you-picked-a-target-who-reads-consumerist

Marisa said...

That's what I figured. Stupid hackers.

Chulitamaya said...

Weird, glad you were not nice enough to send her money :) I almost go scammed with some couches I was trying to sell through craigslist and it happened twice, but I was able to recognize it the first time and they didn't get me. I am so glad you have been writing on your blog more often, it is really cool to read about what other people go through and think about. Be safe OK?