Got my Google account back today!

Today, I figured that enough days had passed that perhaps the great Google behind the cloud would once again allow me to try and get my account back. I followed the yellow brick road, clapped my red shoes together and chanted, "There's no place like home" over and over again, but that didn't work. But, after filling out the form again, I received this automated reply back:

Hello,

Thank you for your report. We've completed our investigation and we're
re-enabling your access to this account. We've changed the recovery email
address to .

To recover access to your account, please follow these steps:

1. Visit https://www.google.com/accounts/ForgotPasswd
2. Enter your username.
3. Enter the word verification.
4. If you're asked a temporary security question, ignore it. Instead,
click 'Change your password by sending an email to your recovery address'
to reset your password.

Once you've completed these steps, Google will send you an email with a
link to reset your password. For tips on how to create a secure password,
please see
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=32040



We look forward to having you as a Google Accounts user again.

Thanks,
The Google Team

You may look forward to having me as a Google Accounts user again, but I'm pretty sure that the feeling is not mutual on my end. Google -- you stiffed me for a whole week, didn't return my calls, you were seeing someone else, and now you want me back. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was in a severely dysfunctional relationship. Don't even get me started about my dysfunctional relationships on Facebook over the past week as a result of this whole fiasco.

Oh, and how did I end up winning with this whole automated Google account recovery form? I had to game the system. You see, Scumbag was really using a Yahoo account to e-mail everyone after the initial e-mail went out from my Gmail account. It was similar enough of an address that most people wouldn't notice the subtle change. So, when I filled out the form, I entered his Yahoo address when it asked what my secondary e-mail address was for my account. I'm pretty sure that had I not used his address, I'd still be fighting Google for my account.

So, I reset my password, got logged into my Gmail account and assessed the damage:

• I checked my settings and (as I had already known/suspected) found that all incoming e-mail was being forwarded to Scumbag's Yahoo account and set to be deleted in Gmail. I turned that off.
• I disabled POP and IMAP access (used to access Gmail from a mail client typically) to my account for now.
• I reset my security question to something I can answer, since I figured out the hard way that Scumbag changed it.
• I checked to make sure that no unusual filters were set up (none were).
• I then discovered that all my contacts had been deleted -- I was fine with that; had it not been done, I would probably have done it myself!
• Looking at my Sent Items, I saw three e-mails were sent out by Scumbag. Each of them was to a bunch of my contacts with the now infamous "My predicament!!!" e-mail.
• Checking out my Deleted Items, I found a few replies from friends, but some of the initials replies that I knew occurred were completely deleted, so I'm not completely sure who all actually replied back.
• I found an e-mail from Facebook letting me know that my account had been disabled due to suspicious activity. If I wanted to reactivate my account, I had to respond to a question that they asked about me. I did so earlier today and I now have my old Facebook account back. Way to go Facebook! Maybe you could teach Google some lessons about how to handle a hacked account?
• I finally checked out the detailed activity on my Gmail account and confirmed what I suspected: Scumbag was nowhere near London, he was in Nigeria, phishing capital of the world!
  

So, what have I learned from this whole ordeal?

• Be wary of what computer you log into any of your accounts from. Despite using a pretty good password (I do work in IT after all!) with a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols, my account was still hacked. I suspect that my account username and password was obtained when I logged into Gmail on someone else's computer. If that computer wasn't properly secured and had malicious software on it, that malware may have logged my account information and sent it over to the Scumbag in Nigeria.
• Google's motto is "Don't be evil" but that doesn't mean that Google is good, or as I found out, very helpful. If you have any kind of problem with any of your accounts on Google, don't expect much, if any, help.
• Don't put anything anywhere on Google that you cannot afford to lose! This goes along with the standard IT mantra: keep a backup of everything and then make another backup of it. There's also the corollary: make sure that whatever system you use for backups really works. In other words, you can never have too many backups.
  
• Don't put anything anywhere on Google that is confidential! Scumbag had full, unfettered, Google-could-care-less-what-he-did access to my account for a full week and I couldn't do a blessed thing about it. Take a minute and reread this point. Now ask yourself: do you have anything anywhere on Google that you would not want a total stranger (aka Scumbag) to have complete access to for a week? If you answered "yes," you might want to take care of that...right now!
• Android phones...I'm looking at you. If you've got one of them, you'll know that you have to have a Google account in order to use it. Well, if that account gets hacked, you're pretty much locked out of a variety of things on your phone. Want to use a different account? Sorry, you'll need to wipe your phone and start from scratch. I'll spare you the other dozen reasons why I don't really like my Droid very much.
• Don't get too reliant on Google Voice. While I was locked out of my Google account, calls to my Google Voice telephone number still rang through to my phones, but if someone left me a message, there was no way I could retrieve it. Lucky for me, Scumbag didn't touch anything with my Google Voice account, but he could have had a field day with it. Fortunately, I haven't given that number out to too many people. Imagine if you relied on your Google Voice number on a daily basis and then lost access for a week. I'm not sure if I will use it much, if at all, now.
• Remember that when the clouds roll in, it's no longer a sunny day. Apparently, that holds true in the virtual world as well. I've never felt comfortable with just throwing my critical data out in "the cloud." The way some people talk about it, cloud computing is some sort of magical, mystical experience. No, it's just a black box and you really don't know what's going on inside. The tech world is abuzz with how great it is to just put out in the cloud and you can forget about it. It will just be "there" wherever "there" actually is. Well, now more than ever, I'm pretty doggone dubious about this whole cloud business. In the cloud, I'm expecting someone else to keep my data accessible (to me), secure (away from Scumbags), and always "there" (doesn't ever go away, doesn't ever blow up). No thanks - I like my data where I can see it and control it.
• Google Apps/Docs is a full fledged card-carrying member of the cloud. It offers some pretty cool stuff, but all of that is worthless if I can't log into it.
• The old saying still holds true: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." If you use Google for just about everything you do online, you would be in a huge world of hurt if you lost access for a week. For me, it was more of a nuisance.
  
• Having phone support for everything you use, no matter how awful, and no matter how hard it is for you to understand the support person, is a wonderful thing. Automation is a wonderful thing, but it is not the answer to everything.

So, Google gets two thumbs down from me on this whole ordeal and I'm left pondering my future dealings with the world of Google. If nothing else, I hope that others will be wary of trusting the "Don't be evil" empire. (And no, the other "empires" out there don't get a free pass on this, not even my favorite, fruity empire!)

I welcome your comments and please share my experiences with your friends, so that others can learn from my misfortune.

An interesting coincidence

So, Scumbag appears to have given up on me. I guess he finally figured out that he's not getting anything from me. But, of course, I still am without my Gmail, Google Voice, and other Google services all tied to my Google account. Nevermind that I still get calls via my Google Voice number -- I can't convince Google that it's really, truly my account.

Now, while all this fun was going on with my account, my wife decided that she'd better change the password on her Google account. She initially had problems getting in and actually had to reset her password (which, unlike me, she was able to do). Naturally, she was a little concerned that her account may have been hacked as well. I did a thorough check and all seemed well. However, the next day, she started getting e-mails for the purchase of AVG and Norton Backup services and a thoughtful recipe from her friend Janet. Except she doesn't have a friend named Janet and she didn't order AVG nor Norton. So, it appears that someone with the same name as my wife had her Gmail account hacked the same day as me. Much like me, she freaked out. And, just like me, she couldn't get it back. Google doesn't believe that the account is hers. She filled out the same form that I've used countless time, and...had no success (what a surprise!). So, she tried to create a new account on Google, perhaps got a little confused, and ended up ordering some security software and having the details sent to my wife's Gmail account.

Thankfully, Janet was able to put my wife in touch with this poor woman and they were able to sort things out.

Unfortunately, this once again demonstrates how Google's options for getting a hacked account back fall woefully short of being even remotely helpful. Google must change its practices and respond swiftly and quickly when accounts are hacked and then used to try and dupe others. Thankfully (to my knowledge), none of my friends, family, and other online acquaintances were duped by this phishing scheme, but if this is a common tactic, no doubt there have been plenty of people that have been duped. Not to mention that I now have a telephone number that I have no control over that forwards to all of my phones. If someone calls it, they can reach me if I answer, but if they leave me a voicemail, I have no way of listening to it.

Help me spread the word that those of us that use Google's services are one hack away from being completely locked out with no recourse other than an automated system that doesn't work. Link to this site from Facebook, Twitter, wherever you can -- it is much appreciated!!

Do you have a similar story to share? E-mail me the details and I'll post your story here on the blog. (Don't worry, I'll keep things anonymous on the blog, but will keep your contact information in the event that Google actually gets in touch with me...but don't get your hopes up.)

In the meantime, I'll see if I can get Scumbag back in the game...

This guy just doesn't give up...

I'd pretty much written scumbag off and figured that he took his ball and went home. I baited him last night with this e-mail, but not really expecting a response.

Me: Son - did you get all of the numbers? Remember, I sent them in reverse order to be a little tricky! -Dad

So, I was rather surprised this morning to see this e-mail from him in my inbox:

Scumbag: Dad i can't get the money and the MTCN is not complete( 819-684-492) please get back to me with the full 10 digit number and the Amount,

While I did contemplate chastising him for e-mailing back the confirmation number to me (minus a digit and actually in the right order), I figured that wouldn't go over well with him. I figured I would play the old, forgetful father:

Me: I've misplaced the receipt and I'm trying to find it now. Did you not get all of my e-mails?

Scumbag: OMG!!!! i went to the western union and they told me the Confirmation is not completed...Kindly check it well and get back to me so that i can get myself out of this mess.Waiting to hear from you

What is he, like a valley girl, or what? Oh my gosh! This was just begging for a parental rebuke!

Me: Son- First of all, I have been putting up with your atrocious grammar and punctuation. Even though we sent you to that exclusive boarding school and paid for you to go to Princeton, I know that the younger generations are all into this texting and abbreviating everything they write. However, please do not use your silly texting abbreviations with me. I do not know what "OMG" means. What do I need to fix the confirmation? Since you have been there a few days now, were you able to get in touch with Paul and stay with him? We never were able to find his number. -Dad

Scumbag: what i need now Dad is the confirmation...that's all

He's all about the confirmation number. Where is the love? Now, I'm at work, so I can't be feeding this troll all day long, so I had to come up with something to get him to twiddle his thumbs for a while:

Me: I'm searching for the receipt, but I can't find it. I'm going to go back to Wal-Mart and see if they can get it. Sorry.

Scumbag: Ok Waiting

Oh, you'll be waiting buster...you'll be waiting for a while if you expect to actually hit paydirt with your old man, trust me. So, a good three hours later, I finally replied:

Me: I just got back from Walmart. Unfortunately, without my receipt, they were unable to help me. They did insist that you should be able to just give your name and show your passport and receive the money. Are you sure that you need the confirmation number? Can you try this please before we rip the house apart looking for this receipt?

Scumbag: look Dad i don think u wire me this money they told me if i dont have the confirmation number that i can't pick any money that i shoun't come back to this store any more..please Dad if you dont have the confirmation don't email me again.
Thanks

I sense frustration, so I meet his frustration with some more fatherly sternness:

Me: Look son, I've wired the money to you through the Western Union at the Walmart. If I could find the receipt (I'm still looking, trust me), I'd e-mail the confirmation number or whatever you call it. Are you sure that you're actually going to Western Union and not getting confused with another money wiring service? Even though you graduated magna cum laude from Princeton, you never were the brightest when it came to details. Do this -- take a picture of the Western Union store you're going to and e-mail it to me, just so I know that you are going to the right place. While you're at it, give me the name of the clerk you've been talking to and the phone number and I'll talk some sense into him! -Dad

As of now, I haven't heard back from him, but undoubtedly, I'll goad him on with another e-mail tonight and he'll be back for more. He can't resist! More to come???

Still can't get into my account

Just tried to reset my password again on my Google account. This time, it asked me my secret question, "What was the name of your first teacher?" Since I never could remember how to spell my first teacher's name, I was pretty sure that I didn't use this as my secret question. I dutifully tried to enter the last name's of a number of my teachers, full names, etc., but no dice. I suspect that Scumbag changed my secret question along with a bunch of other settings.

I also tried to resubmit the form to request access back to my account, but I apparently still need to wait a few days before I can try again "for security reasons". Yeah, thanks a lot Google!

The fun continues!

I had all but given up hope on hearing back from scumbag, since he stopped e-mailing me around noon on Saturday. However, having e-mailed him again last night, I received the following reply:

Me: Son, were you able to get the money I sent? I'm worried that someone else got it instead of you. Please reply!

Scumbag: No Dad western union told me the MTCN should be 10 Digit number so please check the Receipt or you should go back to the western union and have it..because western union told me without the # i can't get the money. Waiting to hear back from you Dad

Now, I've decided that I need to be extra careful. I don't want a hacker to get this information!

Me: I found another number on the receipt. However, I don't want to just send it by e-mail. You've told me many times that I shouldn't send important information like that by e-mail, because someone could hack into my account and read it, and then you, my dearest son, would not get my money and would still be stuck in London. Since you are the computer expert, what do you suggest? -Dad

Scumbag: Thanks for the Advice Dad can you please give me here now no one will got it.

Time to crank it up a notch:

Me: Son, just to be on the safe side, from now on, I will be e-mailing in our secret language:

Iyay eallyray on'tday inkthay it'syay ayay oodgay ideayay orfay emay otay e-mailyay youay ethay onfirmationcay umbernay irectlyday. Youay avehay alwaysyay oldtay emay atthay Iyay ancay evernay ebay ootay arefulcay ithway atwhay Iyay endsay inyay anyay e-mailyay. Ywhay areyay youay otnay ollowingfay youray ownyay adviceyay otay emay? -Adday

[Translation from Pig Latin: I really don't think it's a good idea for me to e-mail you the confirmation number directly. You have always told me that I can never be too careful with what I send in any e-mail. Why are you not following your own advice to me? -Dad]

Scumbag: Tatay Walang isa kumuha ang aking Account Hacked ii maintindihan kung ano ang iyong pag-iisip ngunit ito ay tunay masiyahan pahintulutan ako may akin ang confirmation number.

[Translation from Filipino: Daddy No one with my Account Hacked i understand what you're thinking but it is very please let me have my confirmation number.]

It's amazing how the bad grammar even comes through in the translation! Anyway, keeping with the "secret" language and playing it safe, I reply:

Me: Iyay ememberedray atthay youay avegay emay ayay ebway itesay otay useyay otay ecurelysay e-mailyay informationyay otay youay. Iyay owknay atthay youay illway ememberray ethay itesay, osay Iyay avehay encodedyay ethay onfirmationcay umbernay usingyay isthay itesay andyay avehay istedlay ityay elowbay. Iyay amyay illstay otnay omfortablecay endingsay ethay onfirmationcay umbernay. Iyay owknay atthay youay illway understandyay, ymay onsay.

##### Encrypted:
ZZZZZ WTGRK IANLA AEPTR GBHTT SFRUO ADHEG TFLEU DJNAC QEFPS BVSAD EGBJX XOKRB KMTGV OFMMG JATKF OHXAK RNFRD GAALQ UGEXU ODIKT KXEHT GSVWW VQFFI SPAJV REXJD KRVFV QBAQM LISTC QPEJG KNFUM MOIKD JVORT SHUQD JCXDU WOPAM KJQWP PUKNL PKDSM NCTNF PKFNI SGFVF QAOKS UIFIX DRGTS BTDTI DNWPW DKWID EQRTU BEQLR SUUAS GGGAQ HPMJM JHFDI JVRNJ VTAAO WOBQV GTIKQ IWRXS LGUIO BWLMV LIIPL RKXPH QTQDJ VAMPS RNJRO TDDPO FCWTL HKMIL MAPOD SUHNV SBEQF RHHFH MIJFF PKQRS VHOPL AXIJA OXJPT LCQBX XOGOE KRUIK PEGQW SDTOU SXUIW PGEXI KVGLO VKPXS RUTRF JVXWK GASCX CFWDQ WKRUC EAVQV FDMPO PHUCQ NNFWH IWKLG PKKEI HXXTG EJHDT KBDGA KSIWP IAOLE TWOTJ BCHUP RUPLS HMLCC CXHQG LMIFL LDHQI FOHAK VDEHX TMOLD BMOMW UJEGP WLGDC CBFXW WWFHQ DROWT RPSDG VMRJM VFPHL VICJG SORMI SEKTP ABOAD JVVRV HNCWL KFWBM WPNRT RTFIM QUHDF WDJRV KVIHQ GREOT VGMUH NTXHN MATFN WIUKP SJDHJ MFXSD EPMKS IAGDE PWGVF XGSHC JJMLC NMICC VEMLG CZZZZ YYYYY
##### End encrypted message

Eykay: JXEGO-GBVUX-ZWJDC-VBYXU-PNSIJ-JCBNI-YMZYG-TBAJF-VCMMB-IMFSD-VHTET-XPSZZ

[Translation from Pig Latin: I remembered that you gave me a web site to use to securely e-mail information to you. I know that you will remember the site, so I have encoded the confirmation number using this site and have listed it below. I am still not comfortable sending the confirmation number. I know that you will understand, my son.]

[Unencrypted message: This is just a random message with no significance whatsoever. If you actually figure out how to decode this message, I will be thoroughly amazed. How ridiculous can I be in pretending to help you before you figure out that I'm totally gaming you? Or do you already know and are just enjoying the fun? I'll probably never know.]

To encourage him a bit, I also sent this separate e-mail:

Me: Son, did you get my secret message? Let me know if you were able to decode it! -Dad

We'll see if I get a reply...I'll admit that it's gotten a little ridiculous, but he's been playing along so far.

UPDATE: OK...I'm about to lose him, so we're going to pull back on the craziness a little bit:

Scumbag: Dad if you can't help me out please forget it...i will for another way out

Me: No son. I want to help you, but I am paranoid about someone else getting this number. I will e-mail each number to you in a separate e-mail and in reverse order. That way, it will be harder for them to get. Your dad is still pretty smart, isn't he? Look for ten e-mails shortly. -Dad

Now...let's see what he does when he gets those e-mails, but only gets nine numbers! (Each line below is a separate e-mail.)

Me: 2
Me: 9
Me: 4
Me: 4
Me: 8
Me: 6
Me: 9
Me: 1
Me: 8

Keep spreading the word about Google's lack of concern about hacked e-mail accounts! Share this blog.

Read Part 4!

He's back for more!

Just when I had given up on all of the fun, I got this e-mail from my new friend in London:

Scumbag: i just want to confirm if you have the cash wired already..?

And so began this morning's e-mail exchange, which is still continuing. Not sure how much longer I can string this jerk along:

Me: I'm trying to send you the money, but Western Union keeps telling me that this is not a valid address. Please help!

Scumbag: Dad am really confussed right now please can you give them this Address #51 Whitehall London, SW1A 2BX United Kingdom this is the western union outlet i will have the money pick up please do this fast Dad my flight will leave in 1 hours now.

I'm really confussed, too. Wasn't he supposed to be catching his flight yesterday? Anyway, it continues:

Me: The web site says that I can only send up to $999.99 today. That won't be enough. You needed $1500 yesterday and I'm sure you need even more. I don't know what to do!

Scumbag: Dad have it Wire i will see what i can do with that..waiting to have the confirmation number.

Seems like he's really interested in the confirmation number. Now, at this point, I was seriously considering sending him a $1.00. I went to Western Union's web site and went through the process and there was even an option to have a message read aloud. Many devious thoughts went through my head, but when I saw that it would cost me over $25 just to send a $1.00, I quickly gave up that thought (OK...I did ponder spending the $25 for a little while, but just couldn't do it). Anyway, back to the fun:

Me: How, how will I know that you will get it and not someone else that pretends to be you. I don't want send all this money and then not have you get it!

Scumbag: Thanks Alot Dad and i thanks god i still have passport to have it here no one can have the cash pick up becuase it's was sent to my name, let me have the confirmation number so i can have it and sort everything out. Many Thanks

He's overdoing it with the gratitude. I'm all about having an attitude of gratitude, but dude, you're going overboard. He didn't forget to ask about that confirmation number, though!

Me: Just got back from Wal-Mart. Decided to do it in person. They didn't give me a confirmation number, though. They said that you just need to show up at that Western Union location and give them your name and they would be able to give you the money.

Scumbag: No Dad they said i will have confirmation to confirm the transfer for me which is MTCN you can check the Reciept you will find the MTCN there please do this fast Dad.

I apparently didn't respond quickly enough to him, as he e-mailed me a few minutes later:

Scumbag: Are you still there Dad?

Time to play up the father-son relationship a little bit...

Me: They didn't say anything about this MTCN. I was told that you just need to give your name and show your passport. Are you trying to argue with me now?

Scumbag: No Dad i just get back from there and they said i should have MTCN before i can pick up any money please check the Reciept or you should call the western union back and ask them.

OK...let's start giving him numbers from a fake Western Union receipt (see here) and see where this goes.

Me: OK...I'm looking at my receipt and at the bottom is this number: AKR9379AD

I'm currently waiting for his response. I'll post an update when we get a little further along!

Read Part 3!

Google helps a phisher steal my account and keep it!

Help me get my Google account back. Read this and then share it with everyone you know (Yeah, I know, I'm usually against spamming the world, but I'm hoping that enough people will hear about this that Google will wake up and help me! I appreciate any help you can offer...)

Here's the scenario:

• This morning, someone hacked into my Gmail and Facebook accounts.
  
• My phone soon started ringing -- all of my friends wanted to know if I was OK. I was initially baffled with the first call, but then I got this e-mail on one of my other accounts (e-mail and name blanked out to protect me):
  
  From: Tim ----- [mailto:pr-------ad@gmail.com]
  Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 8:37 AM
  Subject: My predicament!!!
  
  Hello,
  
  I'm sorry for this urgent email, I'm writing this with tears on my eyes due to the situation of things right now,I'm stuck in London United Kingdom with my family,we came down here on vacation and we got Mugged at GUNPOINT.worse of it was that cash cell phone and credit cards were stolen it's such a crazy and terrifying experience for us, we need help flying back home, the authorities are not being 100% helping, but the good thing is that we still have our passports,Our return flight Leave back home Today,But i still have problem in sorting out the hotel bills,Please reply me back and let me know if you can help us with the bills i promise to pay back as soon as i get back home.
  
  I'm freaked out right now.
  
  Thanks
  Tim
  
  
• I had tears on my eyes reading his plight. How can I ever help?
• So they hacked into my Gmail account, spammed all my friends, and hacked into my Facebook account and did the same.
• I quickly figured out that I could no longer use my Gmail, my iGoogle pages, my Google Voice account, nor any of the services on my Motorola Droid cell phone that tie into my Google account.
• Apparently, this form is the only way to get help from Google for my account. Go ahead and take a look at it.
• Here is the automated response that I received back after submitting it:
  
  From: accounts-support-ara@google.com
  Subject: Re: [#652711343] I can't access my account
  Date: June 4, 2010 11:18:23 AM EDT
  
  Thank you for your report. We've completed our investigation and cannot return your account at this time. We were unable to verify that you own this account based on the information you provided.
  
  If you can provide additional information to verify that you own this account, please visit http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?ara=1 and submit another report. Whether we can return access to this account depends on the strength and accuracy of your responses, so be sure to provide as much information as possible. If you're unsure about specific dates or information, provide your best guess.
  
  To create a new account, please visit https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount
  
  We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation and understanding.
  
  Regards,
  The Google Team
  
  
• I tried again, entering five addresses that I frequently e-mail (I mostly use my Gmail account for notifications from my online accounts and don't send e-mail that much), four labels in Gmail (I was able to get this off my Droid), and answering such questions as "Account creation date" (really Google? How many people actually know that?).
• I got the same e-mail response back. I tried several different variations and submitted a few more times until I got this response:
  
  From: accounts-support-ara@google.com
  Subject: Re: [#652735939] I can't access my account
  Date: June 4, 2010 12:44:12 PM EDT
  
  Thank you for your report. For account security, we limit the number of requests that can be processed about the same account. Please wait a few days and try filling out the form again.
  
  Regards,
  
  The Google Team
  
  
• Sure...I'll wait a few more days while this chump tries to bilk my friends out of money using my e-mail account. No problem Google!
• I even tried calling Google. I got someone on the phone who was very polite and all, but was entirely unable to help me and directed me back to the same online form.
• So, what to do? I figured, why not have some fun? So, since my other e-mail account has my name on it, I pretended to be "Dad" and play along with this scumbag's game. Here's the full dialog back and forth:
  
  Me: Hey, is everything OK?
  Me: Dad
  
  Scumbag: I'm so glad to hear back from you and may god bles you,I'm scared and so worried right now,it's was so Terrifying goodness i still have my life and passport,my return flight leave back to the state in few hrs time,but i still have problem in sorting out the hotel bills,i was just wondering if you can loan me some cash till i get back home i promise to refund you back.all i need is $1,500 and you can have it wired to my name via Western UnionHere are the details you need
  
  Name : Tim M----
  Address : 30 Leicester Square
  City : London
  Country : United Kingdom
  
  I'm so happy you are helping and I promise to pay you back, please get back to me with the confirmation number as soon as you are done with the transfer.
  Many Thanks
  
  Me: Everything will be OK. We are praying for you. How can I know that you will get the money at this address? Haven't used Western Union before. -Dad
  
  Scumbag: Thanks very much Timothy i will get the cash with the Address and the western union is 3 blocks away from me here please do that fast before i miss my flight and i promise to pay you back as soon as i get back home.
  
  Me: Since when do you call your dad by his first name? You'd better show me some respect if you expect me to bail you out of trouble again!
  
  Scumbag: what do you mean please help me out before i miss my flight
  
  Me: I mean, I'm your father and you don't call me by my first name. If you want me to help you, show me some respect.
  
  Scumbag: ohh Dady is because of my situation that is why i dont know what to do please help me out and i promise to pay back.
  
  Me: OK...I understand. So, how do I go about doing this whole Western Union thing? I don't even know where there's a Western Union near me.
  
  Scumbag: Thanks Dad you can look for any store Around you or any walmart you will find a western union down the street..please Dad do this fast before i miss my flight. Many thanks
  
  Me: Your mother just reminded me that your cousin Paul is currently in London on business. We're trying to find his phone number for you to call. Don't worry if you miss your flight. We'll figure it all out. -Dad
  
  Scumbag: No Dad i have to be back today please just locate western union and have it done please in the name of God.
  
  Me: Son, you know that I can't get around as well as I used to. Really, getting in touch with your cousin is the best bet. Just let us know where you are staying and we'll have him come help you out. We may not be able to get you home today, but we'll work it all out. I know how distressing this whole thing must be for you, but hang in there. -Dad
  
  Scumbag: can you try this online westernunion.com?
  
  Me: Don't you want your cousin to help you? You could probably stay the night with him if you needed to.
  
  
• Haven't heard back from him, but I haven't given up hope that I can help him! :)
  
• So, I'm asking everyone out there to help me get my lousy Google account back and kick this guy to the curb. Post a link to this blog on Facebook and wherever else you go! A call from Google would be nice (they can just look at my Google Voice account and give me a call). There are so many ways that I can prove that it's my account, but unfortunately Google doesn't care. They're more willing to let a phisher have his way.
  
• For now, anyone that wants to contact me can reach me at:
  
  circularfile@gmail.com

Tim

Read Part 2