I am Not in London

Today one of my email accounts was hacked.  The hackers assumed my identity and sent all my contacts a “phishing” email claiming I was in London, that I had been robbed, and asking for money.  I wasted most of the day trying to clean up this mess.  These people are smart — even after you get your email account back, you find they’ve messed with your settings, deleted your archives, taken over your Facebook page, and on and on.  And I know more than most people about this stuff because I’m teaching a course on cybercrime this semester — the professor teaching cybercrime was hacked!  Doh!  Some of you may have received the scam email — sorry for the inconvenience!

There was, however, a silver lining.  I received calls and emails from friends, colleagues, and acquaintances all over the country, in fact all over the world, expressing concern for me.  Some were suspicious but worried that the plea for help might be legitimate.  Some knew it was a phishing scam and wanted to let me know so I could regain control over the account.  I ended up chatting with a few people with whom I hadn’t touched base in a while.  A number of people at church immediately began praying for me and contacting others at church to check up on me.  What a great thing to be part of church, religious and professional communities that care!  I hope the hackers who grabbed my account — who are probably low-level organized crime functionaries in eastern Europe or Asia — find that kind of faith and professional community someday.