Scammers hack into senator’s Yahoo account

Bob Dvorsky, a Democrat senator for the state of Iowa, is the latest public figure to have had his email system broken into by cybercriminals.

The politician would probably not have realised that his Yahoo account had been broken into unless they had sent a scam email to his friends and online contacts.

The fraudulent email claimed that Senator Dvorsky was stranded in Scotland, and needed to be wired money in order to return to his home.

Subject: Emergency please

Hope you get this on time, sorry I didn’t inform you about my trip in Scotland for a Program, I’m presently in Edinburgh and am having some difficulties here because i misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept. presently i have limited access to internet, I will like you to assist me with a loan of 10,000 Pounds to sort-out my hotel bills and to get myself back home

i have spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.