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To the Editor:

Recently, an email arrived from some miscreant who masqueraded as a friend and asked for a favor – (spelled F A V O U R – which should have been an immediate clue that it was a fraud). I was not diligent and answered by sending out a schedule letting this phony friend know my availability.

I told my wife about the email and was surprised that she’d received the exact same one. So, I figured I got scammed. I called my real friend to ask if she’d gotten my response. She told me she had been hacked and everyone she knew was contacting her trying to find out what she needed – and no, she did not get my response!

Anyway, the culprit wrote back thanking me for responding and asked for a gift card for another friend in need. Knowing at that point, that I was phished, I wrote back saying I would be happy to help out and they could pick up the gift card at the front desk of our local police station. I haven’t heard back.

This scam came through Hotmail and the procedure for recourse for this sort of thing is not quite clear or easy to use. So just a general comment; if anyone else gets this kind of message and if it appears “phishy”, don’t answer, or if you do, use an emoji with the appropriate finger pointed in the appropriate direction – and wish your correspondent well.

Pete Kapuscinski

Dillwyn