Pensioner conned out of £1k by e-mail scammers

The 73-year-old received a message from his friend's e-mail address three weeks ago, claiming he was in Madrid and had lost his money and passport and needed the money to help get him home.

But the e-mail account had been hacked and the scammers had sent the message to all the friend's contacts.

The man who was allegedly stuck in Spain was at home in Battle, unaware of the fraud.

The man, who does not want to be named, said he was duped into giving his Hotmail password after receiving an official-looking e-mail purporting to be from Hotmail.

In fact the e-mail was a convincing fake.

He said: "I have had it before and put it in junk mail, but because it used Hotmail, I genuinely thought it was from them."

The password was used to hack the 73-year-old's e-mail account and the e-mail asking for the money was sent out to all the man's contacts.

He said: "My phone did not stop ringing with people asking if I was in Madrid and what was happening.

"A lot of people knew it was a scam because it said I was at the English Embassy, rather than the British Embassy."

He did not know that his friend from Robertsbridge had paid out the 1,000 until he saw him the following day.

He said: "He was devastated. Not so much about losing the money, but by the fact he was duped by it.

"He genuinely thought I was in a lot of trouble and sent the money to help me out."

Sussex Police are investigating the incident.

East Sussex Trading Standards urge anyone who receives similar e-mails or letters not to pass on any of their bank details or personal information.

Trading Standards say there have been a spate of e-mail scams across the county in recent weeks, including some which ask the victim to transfer sums of money via bank transfer or money transfer agents such as MoneyGram or Western Union.

In an attempt to combat this, Trading Standards have written to all local Post Offices, banks and building societies making them aware of the types of scams out there, and asking them to identify potential scam victims making help and advice available where necessary.

There have also been a rise in the number of deceased relative scams, where scammers contact victims informing them that someone of the same surname has passed away, leaving behind a large some of money.

The scammers then ask for bank details, promising that they will then transfer the money into the victim's account.

The East Sussex County Council Trading Standards campaign will continue into March with free 'Scambusting' events with refreshments and a performance from Solomon Theatre Company on March 9 at Horntye Park, Bohemia Road, Hastings from 10am-1pm and Centre Stage, 97 London Road, Bexhill from 2-5pm.

Trading Standards Officers will be on hand to offer advice and support.