The TOUR editorial team received a call for help by e-mail this morning: Max Hürzeler, who turned Mallorca into a cycling island, asked for money in times of need:
"I've lost my bag including my passport and credit card...I just have to pay for my ticket and hotel bills. Unfortunately I don't have any money with me, my credit card could help but it's also in my bag. I have already contacted my bank but they need more time to send me a new one. I wanted to ask you if you could lend me some money as soon as possible. I'll give it back to you as soon as I get there. I really need to get the next flight."
The wording makes you suspicious - the aim of the fraudsters quickly becomes clear in further e-mail correspondence: "Thank you for your reply. I need 1200euros to pay my bills. Can you send me the amount via Western Union?"
The following emails are then sent from a different address: maxhurezeler@yahoo.de. You have to look closely to spot the spelling mistake.
Max Hürzeler's phone has been ringing constantly ever since - many friends want to warn him. "I realised it this morning - the account was probably hacked during the night," Hürzeler explains to TOUR. However, the problem has since been fixed - "a computer specialist has backed up the account again". Hürzeler believes that nobody fell for the trick: "My friends know that I'm in Mallorca". He does not want to reveal how many mails were actually sent, but the BIKE editorial team was also among the recipients.
The scam with the request for a quick bank transfer is not unknown. There are numerous victims on the Internet whose accounts have been hacked. This is often due to a password that is too simple. A good password should be at least eight characters long and consist of upper and lower case letters as well as special characters and numbers.
Further tips are available from the Federal Office for Information Security: www.bsi-fuer-buerger.de
