It was an email that NBC 10 Jersey Shore Reporter Ted Greenberg couldn’t help but feel suspicious about.
The message, from Norma Henson, claimed that she had been mugged while on vacation in London and needed $1650 wired to her. Ted decided to call Henson and his suspicion was confirmed.
Henson wasn’t in England but instead at her home in Pine Hill, NJ. It was true however, that she was the victim of a crime, though it took place in cyberspace rather than the streets of London.
On Thursday Henson replied to what she claims looked like a legitimate email from Verizon. She sent her username and password. By Friday morning, she says hackers took control of her email and facebook, leading to the same message that Ted received being sent to all of her friends. Henson quickly took action.
“I called the bank, they’ve frozen my accounts,” said Henson. “I called all the credit card companies.”
Henson also filed a complaint with police and hopes they will trace where the email originated.
NBC Philly contacted Verizon, which is aware of the Phishing scam.
“They’re looking for any type of donations that they can use to access your account and create mischief” said Lee Gierczynski, a Verizon Spokesperson. “If customers do receive emails like that asking for any sensitive information they should treat them suspiciously.”
“They could take everything, because I pay bills online, I check my banking account online, my credit card accounts online,” said Henson.
“I never should have answered the email. Bottom line.”
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