Guest Post: I Was Hacked Again

I Was Hacked Again

Colonel Donald J. Myers USMC (Ret)
 

Quite some time ago, I received an Email from a friend who was supposedly in a foreign country and had been robbed. He needed money in order to return to this country. I knew immediately that it was a scam and as a result ignored it. At a later date, I received another mailing from a different friend in the same situation and ignored it. The situation in each case was not in keeping with the demeanor of the two friends and that contributed to my ignoring them.

Some time in the recent past, I started receiving phone calls from friends all over the country wanting to know if I was out of the country. Apparently, someone had hacked my computer and was able to get my mailing list. Any mass mailing that I send are always by Bcc so that the addresses are hidden. Hackers are both devious and fully capable of maneuvering around computers. Fortunately, no one was fooled by the scam.

Jump to about two months ago and while I was on the computer, it froze and a message appeared that said in order for my computer to be released, I needed to send several hundred dollars to a certain address. Naturally, I called my computer tech and he said that it was a virus that was used frequently by hackers and it would take a day to clean it up.  I asked about a virus blocker and was told that a good hacker can find his way around almost anything. That really makes one feel good doesn't it? 

Now we are up to the present time. I usually get a pile of Emails daily, but recently the number had been significantly less. I just figured that the holiday season was causing people to spend more time doing other things. My daughter tried to send me a message from Iowa and it would not go through. My wife tried to send me a message so I could run it off on my printer and that also would not go through. Then I started receiving calls from friends who said that they were not receiving my mailings and any messages they sent to me were not accepted. I then started receiving calls from friends who said that they received a message that I was in the Philippines and had lost my wallet. I needed money to return to the states. Now things were starting to make sense.

A computer tech started to look at my computer and found that the hacker had placed several blocks for incoming messages. Anyone who tried to contact me following the request for financial help would have his Email blocked so I knew nothing about what was happening. The hacker also blocked many of my addressees receiving my Emails so that the ruse of my being out of the country made sense. How could I be in the Philippines if I was still talking about happenings at home? Each time that I sent out mail, I received "message sent" so I was none the wiser that much of it was going nowhere.

It took the technicians hours to clean up my computer. My password was changed and I probably will change my address. To add to my difficulties, the hacker erased my entire contact list of over 500, so I have been rebuilding that by the mail that I receive. The main point is that bad guys are out there and they care not a wit about who or what they harm. Keep your powder dry and always be wary. If it doesn't look right, it probably isn't. Act accordingly

*****
 

Donald J. Myers a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, is a regular columnist for Hernando Today. He lives in Spring Hill and can be contacted at dmyersusmc@aol.com.

Note: I got one of the e-mails, but having seen this scam dozens of times, knew it was fake. I assumed they had simple stolen Col. Myers address and those of people he sends to, but since he uses the BCC field, this does sound like he was hacked. Wiush I could break the arms of the scum. ~Bob