Det. Cory Collings said Tuesday morning a Williston businessperson’s Hotmail e-mail business account was hacked and can’t be accessed by the owner. Meanwhile, the hackers have sent e-mails to contacts on the business e-mail address book asking for money.
The e-mail sent by hackers states the businessperson needs money because she has lost all of her personal belongings while supposedly traveling in Holland, England and Turkey, Collings said.
The e-mail continues to state the businessperson needs a “soft loan” for $3,700 and is waiting for replies from the people on the business e-mail contact list.
Collings stated the local business owner received calls on her cell phone Monday evening asking if she indeed needed the funds. He said the business owner has no idea how many contacts are on the business e-mail contact list that is now in the possession of the hackers. Collings said this is the first time the police department has received a complaint about an e-mail account being accessed in this manner.
“We’ve had something similar to this where they had made contact by phone where a relative was picked up in Canada,” he said. “If you get e-mails like this, contact us. I have several hundred different scams in a folder I keep. I try to catch the scams before they happen.”
In this case, he’s sure hackers will request a money order to be shipped somewhere by anyone responding to the false e-mail.
Anyone with information or questions about this case or any other scams may contact the Williston Police Department at 701-577-1212.
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