The Yahoo Messenger hacker

Last night (or shall I say early this morning?), one of my friends in Yahoo Messenger sent me a message. We haven't talked for a while. In fact, we haven't talked in almost a year. Then here she goes messaging me again.

I thought she was just saying hello. Turns out, she's depressed. Her "tita" had a "heart attack". Then, she needed money to call the US using her cellphone. She wanted to call her "tito". She asked for an absurd amount of P3,000!

By then, I had sensed something was wrong, that something was fishy. First off, I know my friend does not write in "text" language. Next, the grammar was horrible. It was so unlike her.

I started asking her questions. I asked for her name, which this person answered correctly. Next, I asked for her school, to which this person answered correctly again. My next question was: "Were we in some org in Ateneo before? If so, what is it?"

Dead silence.

I tried coaxing this person to send a reply but apparently, I think he/she gave up. This person knew I hadn't been buying into all this nonsense. I even taunted this person by asking: "Do you want the money or not?"

But still, dead silence.

I then contacted my friend by email and true enough, her account had been hacked. Just as I thought. My friend does not write in "text" language. The grammar was horrible. And another thing, my friend knows that I had been living in America for almost a year; how can I send P3,000?!. It's not that easy to send money from another country, you know. Besides, I have no Philippine pesos. I only have US DOLLARS. Obviously, this person knows nothing as to my location. This person thought I was in the Philippines. Hah!

Anyway, she told me that my account might have been hacked as well because I had been in contact with the hacker. As it seems, this thing spreads like a virus of some sort. So upon receiving her message when I woke up, I immediately changed my passwords. I doubt that my account had been hacked but it's better safe than sorry.

And then, later on in the night, I sent this message to all my friends:

Dear All,
In light of the recent Yahoo Messenger hacking scam, please beware of anyone soliciting money (i.e. P3,000) through YM. My friend’s Yahoo account was hacked and had been messaging people asking for that amount. It was reported that once you have exchanged messages, the hacker can access your own account and try to solicit funds under your own Yahoo ID. In this regard, I have changed my password. Should this person have used my Yahoo ID, please note that I DO NOT NEED P3,000. I have been living in the USA for the past year and have no need for Philippine currency. If you’re willing to send me US DOLLARS, you’re more than welcome to (hehe, joke lang!). But seriously, please be aware of such incidents. These hackers are very resourceful. Let’s be safe from identity theft.

The message is loud and clear. BEWARE OF IDENTITY THIEVES. DO NOT SEND MONEY TO ANYONE WHO SEEMS TO BE SUSPICIOUS OR SOLICITS ONLINE.