Spam email, headed ‘I need your assistance please’ was sent out from the playgroup’s hotmail account just after midday on August 25.
The message appeared to be from playgroup worker Charmaine Richardson, claiming to be in Athens and in desperate need of an emergency loan after being mugged at gunpoint.
Copies of it were sent out to everyone on the playgroup’s email list, including the County Times.
The message contained curious phrases such as: ‘Am in a great sorrow writing you this mail’, ‘I’m presently in Athens, Greece on short program’, and ‘I just need loan of €1,000 Pounds’.
Not surprisingly the appeal for help turned out to be a hoax, and the real Mrs Richardson was safely at home in Washington rather than stranded in Greece.
“I’m definitely not there,” she said, “I’ve never even been there.”
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeShe said scammers had been targetting her own email of late: “I’ve had a lot of emails recently on my own personal account - I’ve had the African ones asking for bank details; Halifax, Santander and RBS telling me that I need to update my online banking details.”
Read more at http://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/news/local/ashington_playgroup_hit_by_email_fraudsters_1_3024049
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