Warning about email scam about 'stranded friend' looking for money

People have been warned about an email phishing scam in which fraudsters hack into email accounts and pretend to be your friend looking for money while stranded abroad.

A KildareNow reader who contacted us via Facebook said she received an email from a pal's email address claiming she was abroad on holidays and had lost her purse and passport.

The message says the friend 'needs a little help' which presumably means transfer money.

The KildareNow reader said: "At first, I was shocked to hear what had happened to my friend and I wanted to help her.

"However she said she was in Cyprus and I actually had no idea she was going there so I texted her to ask: 'are you ok?'

"But to my shock, she texted back and said she was nowhere near Cyprus and was at her work in Dublin!"

The clever email that popped into the reader's inbox had said: "I hope you are doing ok, i am in Limassol, Cyprus at the moment and I just misplaced my bag containing my passport, phone and money. I need a little help..."

Fraudsters target millions of people via email every day, with scams becoming more and more elaborate.

The latest version of this 'phishing' scam involves a fraudster hacking into an email account and sending out emails to people in the address book.

These emails ask the recipient for money to be transferred  to help a friend who is stranded abroad, and they can seem very genuine.

However a fake recipient account is often set up with Western Union which has absolutely no knowledge of the scam.