"MY SAD TRIP !!!Marc Ellis‏"

[Tuanv 2]

"I'm writing this with tears in my eyes it has left my fam and i in a devastating state,This might get to you too urgent but it's because of the situation of things right now,I'm stuck in Scotland United Kingdom with my family right now,we came on a short vacation,we got mugged at Gun point,All cash,credit cards including our cell phone were stolen from us,but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.We've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in few hours from now but having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills,I'm freaked out at the moment.

Thanks

Marc."

Any idea what is going on? If this is truly Marc, should we organize something to help him? It came from this e-mail marcellislaw@gmail.com

[Tuanv 2]

He replied back with another e-mail.

"Glad you replied back,All i need now is just $2,250 to cover up all we are owing,You can wire it to my name and present location from any western union outlet around you.There's a Western Union money transfer service very close to me,promise to pay you back as soon as i return home. Here's is the info you need at Western Union location Below:-

Here are the details needed to get it to me;

Name:Marc Ellis

Address:69 George Street

Edinburgh, EH2 2JG,Scotland United Kingdom

As soon as you have it done,kindly email me the transfer details and let me know as soon as you're heading out to W.U outlet.

Many Thanks

Marc."

[B_J 2,752]

"I'm writing this with tears in my eyes it has left my fam and i in a devastating state,This might get to you too urgent but it's because of the situation of things right now,I'm stuck in Scotland United Kingdom with my family right now,we came on a short vacation,we got mugged at Gun point,All cash,credit cards including our cell phone were stolen from us,but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.We've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in few hours from now but having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills,I'm freaked out at the moment.

Thanks

Marc."

Any idea what is going on? If this is truly Marc, should we organize something to help him? It came from this e-mail marcellislaw@gmail.com

I'm going to assume that this is not Marc Ellis. It's just a really good scam to get money. Don't send any money.

[Tuanv 2]

I'm going to assume that this is not Marc Ellis. It's just a really good scam to get money. Don't send any money.

I don't have any money to send anyway.

[DaveE 178]

Don't know the specifics of this, however, I got virtually the same email from a lady with whom I work. It said she was stuck in London in the same circumstance. Problem was, she was sitting across from me when the email arrived. She was shocked when I let her read the the email, and that it supposedly came from her email address. Lots of smart scammers out there.

[FormerlyKnownAs 17]

I have a friend who recently was the "victim" in a similar situation. In her case, it was a well played scam, so... Sounds like it's a scam to me.

[Tuanv 2]

Don't know the specifics of this, however, I got virtually the same email from a lady with whom I work. It said she was stuck in London in the same circumstance. Problem was, she was sitting across from me when the email arrived. She was shocked when I let her read the the email, and that it supposedly came from her email address. Lots of smart scammers out there.

I think your friend and Marc's e-mail are compromised.

http://groups.google.com/group/hockeynet/msg/3732e475f275cf3c

[Tuanv 2]

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-03-28/opinion/greene.email.scam_1_e-mail-first-byline-subject-line?_s=PM:OPINION

[moroccogirlny 100]

That's a scam! My friend's gmail account got hacked and the hacker asked for money using her name.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

"I'm writing this with tears in my eyes it has left my fam and i in a devastating state,This might get to you too urgent but it's because of the situation of things right now,I'm stuck in Scotland United Kingdom with my family right now,we came on a short vacation,we got mugged at Gun point,All cash,credit cards including our cell phone were stolen from us,but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.We've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in few hours from now but having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills,I'm freaked out at the moment.

Thanks

Marc."

Any idea what is going on? If this is truly Marc, should we organize something to help him? It came from this e-mail marcellislaw@gmail.com

LOL - why should we organize something to help him? He pulls in the bucks - he should be sending us money for the people we send him!

This is a scam - they send them out in hopes someone will bite.

If you offer to send money directly to the hotel that is holding "hostage" - they will shoot that down.

Never - ever - send money via Western Union to people you don't know, or you didn't talk to in person (as in family).

Even if they are being "held"

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

I think Marc has probably gotten infected from a client. I know he does work with people from all over , sounds like him and a client are sharing viruses.

[magicplates 0]

i was ready to help but a few suspicious thing came to mind:

1. if you've communicated with marc before, this is not how he signs his emails

2. this is not marc's writing style (i correspond with him once every year or so just to keep in touch) - in addition there are obvious grammatical mistakes he would not make

i became suspicious and contacted someone who works with him to verify - they confirmed this is a scam.

if it was truly marc i would have been ready to help him as he had with me.

Edited March 29, 2011 by magicplates

[Darnell 8,478]

i'd be checking IP addresses, also..

[TracyTN 237]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/302607-marc-ellis-gmail-account-has-probably-been-hacked/page__pid__4572883#entry4572883

[Darnell 8,478]

my fun contrib (I got one too)

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Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:32:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Marc Ellis <marcellislaw@gmail.com>
Reply-To: marcellislaw@ymail.com
Subject: MY SAD TRIP !!!Marc Ellis
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Edited March 30, 2011 by Darnell