I just logged in specifically to see if there was some mention of this.

I received an email on the tm-img gmail account (I actually did not notice that this account was the one used) as follows:
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Hi there, Just wanted to see if you'd be open to a quick chat over email. I'd really appreciate your help with something.

Best wishes

Richard
No alarm bells rang and I replied to the email address, which was correct, thinking it was about Morgan cars or the Moto Guzzi rally last weekend. Unfortunately I gave WhatsApp, Telegram and phone number details.

I then recieved the following reply and the alarm bell rang. The email address was all correct but it just seemed really off.
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Good to hear from you.

I’m hoping you might be able to help me with something. I’d like to get an Airbnb gift card for a friend’s daughter as a birthday gift. She’s currently undergoing cancer treatment, and I had promised to get this for her.

Unfortunately, I’m dealing with laryngitis and quite a bit of throat pain at the moment, so I haven’t been able to sort it out myself. I tried purchasing the gift card online but haven’t had any luck.

Would you be able to help me purchase one online, perhaps through Amazon, and have it sent to her email address? Alternatively, if there’s a nearby shop where one can be purchased, that would work as well.

If you’re able to help, please let me know and I’ll send you the necessary details.

Best wishes,
Richard

Note that neither email I received actually mentions my name even though I signed with my name on my reply. Probably indicates a quick cut and paste job.

A quick search on the internet revealed this scam is not unusual. Apparently the scammers then sell the gift vouchers. Another alternative may take you to a fake site that gathers your details.

My suggestion to anyone who has been hacked would be to create an etirely new email address, obviously with a different password, and to go through changing the email address in all the accounts that they regularly use. I have several email addresses and now use one only for logins that are important for security, others I use for unimportant sites that may be less secure. That way there is less chance of breeched security spilling to important accounts.

Peter

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