"Mugged abroad" fraud hits Yorkton

Another email scam is making its rounds in Yorkton.

Last week, at least two people in the city had their email accounts hacked and an urgent message sent to all their email contacts requesting funds to get them out of a jam in Europe.

This "mugged abroad" fraud originated about three years ago. The scammer typically starts out by apologizing for not informing you they are abroad because the trip was unexpected. It goes on to say everything was going well until they were mugged (usually at gun point) and had money, phones and credit cards stolen, which is ostensibly why they are contacting you by email.

Other details include the casual attitude of local authorities and their bank's unwillingness to do anything but mail them a new credit card, all of which is not timely enough because they only have a few hours to catch their return flight and need to sort out their hotel bills and such.

The email then requests a very specific amount of money, such as $1,650, and promises to refund the cash as soon as they get home.

Because the email is actually coming from your friend's account, which may include their familiar custom signature, it may seem somewhat legit, although there are tip-offs. Copies of the emails obtained by Yorkton This Week feature language and grammar that make it quite obvious the sender is not a native English speaker.

The RCMP is currently not reporting anyone having been taken in by the scam locally, but remind the public to be vigilant.

Some tips to avoid being a victim are making sure you have a very secure password on your email account, verifying your friend's whereabouts if you receive a strange request, reporting suspicious correspondence to the police and never wiring money unless you can confirm a request is legitimate.