Just how far can you go for a friend? Perhaps more than enough to become victims of fraudulent e-mails.

Such is the case of Rudolf Ludwig, a Goa resident and a prey of e-mail hacking. He was living a rather average normal life working as a musician and art gallery owner. But this soon stopped once his friends began receiving frantic messages in their e-mail accounts. It mentioned how Rudolf got stranded in Nigeria and that is he is in dire need of financial support. Yolanda, his wife, telephoned friends and family about the real situation, explaining that that e-mail is completely untrue.

It was when there were incessant phone calls that Rudolf himself realized that his Gmail account was hacked. He can no longer access it using his own password.

The scammer could have been one from Nigeria, who was trying to extort his friends with $3,500, in the hope to help the “victim” find his way back home.

This kind of e-mail is not entirely new. In fact, there are hundreds of different versions of it. The problem can range from losing important valuables such as money or passport. This may mean that the prey has no other method of returning home after attending a conference than by asking his good friends some cash. The letter will begin with a picture of what terrible condition the victim could have been in. This will be followed by an advice to transfer money to a particular account who, surprisingly, is living in Nigeria.

Another popular e-mail scam circulating has similar thrust as the other two but with a different flavor to it. Perhaps you’ve also heard the story of Barrister Richard Okaya, a desperate Nigerian man who long wanted to withdraw his money from an overseas bank but needs your “help” to do that. The reward appears to be really great, worth millions of dollars, but that is, of course, in exchange of some of your vital information.

Numerous individuals who have some background in Internet Technology can blame the weak security settings of PCs belonging to end users. Others may see the keylogger as the ultimate source of confidential information. The problem, however, goes beyond that. Nigerians are becoming clever enough to remove usual terms such as “wire payment.” They keep changing the names of their victims, and they can even modify their stories. This is to further prevent online authorities from tracking them or to motivate their victims to bring their guards down.

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