hack

Two or three years ago, an email arrived “from a retired bishop” saying that he and his wife were in some African country, where they had been visiting a crippled children’s hospital, but they were stuck there and couldn’t leave because their airline tickets and money and IDs had been stolen, and please send money to help them get home. The email address was just slightly “off” enough to give away that it was a fraud.

Foolishly perhaps, but nevertheless I began exchanging emails with the sender, saying I was sorry about the problem, asking for details of where to send the money, and asking for pictures of the children so that we could help the children too. I also started addressing the sender as “Chuck and Nan,” as though we were very familiar and friendly with each other; and the sender picked up on that, said Nan is fine but needs me to send the money, and signed his email Bishop Chuck.

The sender got more and more frantic in his requests for the money, and where was it, it hadn’t arrived yet, as I pretended to ignore that and ask about the children, where were the pictures, and where had they been staying, and had they been enjoying the visit.

It was foolish of me to play along that way instead of just ignoring it. But I immediately notified our diocesan office of the sham and kept the guy on the hook for a bit longer. He kept saying, “Nan and I have to leave for an emergency at the hospital now, just send the money,” until I just dropped him.

Just after 12 noon yesterday, while still at the church office, sitting at my computer and messing with the liturgy for Summer Eucharist, I checked my email on the iPhone and it would not open. My gmail account had suddenly gone bad on me. Nothing would either open or send. This continued all afternoon and into the evening. This is quite annoying until I think about the things that are going on in the lives of others who are dear to me, and things of this earth fade in significance and importance.

At some point I sent an email to several people, informing them that my gmail account was not working, and asking them to switch to my no-longer-used knology email account. In response to that, a friend asked whether perhaps my gmail account had been hacked, that hers had been hacked some months ago and weird emails sent out in her name. This rang both an alarm and a bell. An alarm, that I had best not just ignore this, and a bell that some sort of warning email had arrived from Google just after noon, that could not be opened on my iPhone at the time.

Going back with a different computer, I managed to open that one email only. Sent at 12:15 noon, Google said that someone in Hiroshima, Japan had attempted to sign in to my gmail account and that, suspecting an attempt to hack in, Google had blocked my account. They provided instructions and one-time access for password change only. As a result, late last evening my gmail account was back on line and in service.

It is considerably assuring to experience Google’s security system for protecting email accounts. At the same time, it is a concern to realize that even as insignificant an account as mine was targeted for hacking.

If anyone should receive emails “from me” asking for money to help us get out of Japan, ignore it. We are home here in PC at least for the summer, and going noplace except to church on Sundays.

Or, you can send the money to the church.

T+