Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Did you know that your email address could be just as valuable to a con artist as your social security number?
Experts say email hijacking is on the rise. And information in your account can lead to your identity being stolen. Fred Campbell found out recently.
"I had been to Nigeria and had been robbed,"says Campbell. At least that's what some of his loved ones thought. "A friend called me on my cell phone and said she had received a disturbing email from me and wanted to know if I was in some kind of trouble," says Campbell.
He assured his friends he was safe and sound in South Carolina. But apparently his Yahoo account which included bank and credit card information and emails were not so secure.
"I tried to log on and I couldn't get into my account,"says Campbell. His account was hijacked by scammers posing as Yahoo representatives.
The con artists sent Campbell's friends email messages that appeared to be from him stating he was in trouble in Nigeria and needed $2700 to get home. It wasn't long before he figured out how it all happened.
"I received an urgent message from Yahoo telling me to update my account. If I didn't update my account within two weeks, it would be deleted,"says Campbell.
The email asked for personal information including his user I.D. and password. "I have multiple accounts, Myspace, Facebook, tied into that account,"says Campbell.
Worried about what the hackers might do with all that personal information, Campbell took action. "I contacted the bank, I changed credit card numbers,"says Campbell.
Meanwhile, he's hoping others will learn from his experience. "Don't just send information, personal information online,"says Campbell.
Yahoo warns customers about email scams in an article on its website. Yahoo never requests account information like username and passwords through emails.
8/6/2009 11:27:44 PM
