DULUTH, Ga. — Claude Mason has been a lot of things in his 60 years in Duluth. He's been an attorney, a municipal court judge in two cities, and was once the mayor of Duluth. One thing he's not used to being: A victim.
That is apparently what he became overnight when he learned his computer, or at least his email account, had been hacked.
Someone claiming to be Mason emailed everyone on his contact list claiming the well-known attorney had been robbed at gunpoint while on vacation in Manila, Philippines.
"Never been to that part of the world," Mason said.
The email was similar to the normal "Nigerian scams" that litter the Internet, except in this case, the name that was used was real and he is part of the public safety community.
"Hello, <br/> <br/> "I am sorry for reaching you rather too late due to the situation of things right now. My family and I had a trip visiting (Manila, Philippines), everything was going on fine until last night when we got attacked by some unknown gunmen. All our money, phones and credit cards was stolen away including some valuable items, It was a terrible experience but the good thing is they didn't hurt anyone or made away with our passports. <br/> <br/> "We have reported the incident to the local authorities and the consulate but their response was too casual, we were ask to come back in 2 weeks time for investigations to be made proper, But the truth is we can't wait till then as we have just got our return flight booked and is leaving in few hours from now but presently having problems sorting out our bills here and also getting a cab down to the airport, Right now we're financially strapped due to the unexpected robbery attack, Wondering if you can help us with a quick loan to sort our bills and get back home. All we need is ($2,650.00 USD) or anything you can afford, I promise to refund you in full as soon as I return hopefully tomorrow or next. write back now to let me know what you can do."
So far, Mason doesn't believe anyone on his contact list fell for the scam, but he's also worried the identity thief might have been targeting more than his email account.
"I've got a lot of saved documents and letters that are very sensitive, some of them are, and I don't need them to be out," Mason said.
Mason said there is no indication any files had been compromised but he still wants to know who is doing this and why they chose him.
He has a simple message for the thief: "Get a job. If you're this smart, you ought to be able to make an honest living."
WSBTV
