I was hacked

Hi.

I stupidly put my email address and password into a fake account (I know, I can't believe it myself) the hacker got into my email and my facebook account.

He/She sent out an email to eveyone I've ever emailed (I don't delete anything) from my gmail account.

"">> > Hello,
>> > I'm sorry for this odd request because it might get to you too
>> > urgent but it's because of the situation of things right now, i'm
>> > stuck in London right now, We came down here on vacation , i was
>> > robbed, worse of it is that bags, cash, cards and my cell phone was
>> > stolen at GUN POINT, it's such a crazy experience for me, i need help
>> > flying back home, the authorities are not being 100% supportive but
>> > the good thing is i still have my passport but don't have enough
>> > money to get my flight ticket back home, please i need you to loan me
>> > some money, will refund you as soon as I'm back home, i give you my
>> > word.
>> >
>> > Sandra."

From my Facebook he had the following chats with my friends

""Sandra
Hey..
How are you ?
12:10amJodie
good wat you doin up so late??
12:11amSandra
Not fine
Do you know Andrew and I stuck in London??
12:11amJodie
how'd that happen
12:12amSandra
we got robbed on our way to the hotel park..
All our money cc and phones was stolen off me at the gun point
12:12amJodie
oh my
i wasn't aware you were outta town
12:13amSandra
Thanking god almighty for safe keeping our passports and lifes..
12:15amJodie
so true
12:16amSandra
We need your help??
12:17amJodie
how
12:19amSandra
getting out of here now is our problem..Our return flight leaves in few hours time we are at risk with our flight
What we need now is a financial help
12:20amJodie
Well I am not sure you are who you say you are
12:21amSandra
OMG! Jodie What are you talking about???
12:23amJodie
Do you not have family you can contact where are the kids
12:23amSandra
they are in the hotel now
Am in a internet shop trying to get help outta here
12:26amJodie
how did you pay for internet if you have no money or cc
give me you parents phone number and i will ring them
12:27amSandra
It's free internet facility
12:28amJodie
i am sure if you guys are stuck they won't mind me ringing them and forwarding a message
12:28amSandra
Like i said ealiar i lost everything to the robbers i dont have access to my phone
12:29amJodie
so you don't know your parents home phone number off by heart i find that very odd
you could give their number to me and i will ring them
12:31amSandra
Let me know if i can get a quick loan from you or not
12:32amJodie
i am sorry I have no available funds give me you parents ph number and i am sure they will be able to wire you some funds or maybe your siblings

12:35amJodie
why have you not tried to call reverse charges to your family


AND


"12:34amSandra
Hey Damian!

How are you ?

12:36amDamian
Hi San!!!!I'm great and you?

12:37amSandra
Not fine

12:37amDamian
What are you still doing up, I normally have FB to myself at this time of night

Whats wrong?

12:39amSandra
do you know Andrew and I stuck in London??

12:40amDamian
What the!! because of the crew strikes?

12:41amSandra
We got mugged at a gun point

12:41amDamian
WTF...are you all right????

12:42amSandra
Our Money,CC and P hones was stolen at the gun point..

12:44amDamian
Sandra is no longer online. The following was not sent:

WTF...are you all right???? (send as a message)

12:45amSandra is online.
12:45amSandra
...

12:49amSandra is online."

Gmail got my account reset and new password within 5 minutes of me emailing from another address I have. The hackers put a forward into my gmail to this address **********@yahoo.com which is not mine. A couple of friends replied to the original email (yes, I know again) and then received this email

"Glad to hear back from you.I don't have access to phone right now it was such a crazy experience for me... It has really been embarrassing for me. £1000 will cover all my expenses, I promise to refund it to you as soon as I arrive home. You can wire it to my name from a western union outlet around. Here are the details you need to get it to me.

Name - Sandra H. XXXXXXX (I took out the surname for this post as it's mine)
Location - 73 Kentish Town Rd, London, NW5 2TG United Kingdom

I still have my passport so I can use it as identification. You'll be given a 10 digit confirmation number as soon as the transfer goes through, email it to me as soon as you have wired the cash to me.

Sandra."

I've set up a dummy account and emailed the hacker this

"OMG Sandra, of course I'll help you. How much do you need? What's your number and I'll call you to work out how to get you the money.

So glad you're okay"

The hacker has now replied...what do I do?

I've contacted Western Union but they said there's nothing they can do (you would think they would stop any payments to the payee. Would they have made up a fake passport to get any cash sent to them? How does Western Union work?

I still don't have my Facebook account back, they disabled it. Years of history there and it's very upsetting but not as worrying as what information they got from my gmail account.

Any help would be appreciated.

Whoever sent the payment can retrieve it if they can get to Western Union before the scammer does. Otherwise it's gone for good.
I'll add to this post shortly

No one has sent money as far as I know. I sent out an email within hours to everyone in my address book. Looking forward to read the rest of your reply

Yes. I misread your post. I'd be surprised if there were any victims here, The style of English used clearly isn't yours.
Falling for a scam doesn't mean you are stupid, just too trusting at worst. We live in a world where you can't trust people who contact you on the Internet.
his is a common scam, and you are one of the lucky ones who got your email account back. The scammer uses the addressbook to email the addresses listed, Easier and quicker than reading your emails. If your paying to use an Internet cafe, time and money doing something with no financial benefit. I hope you gt your FB back.
Western Union would be a useful way of getting money to someone quickly if this story was true. Use it for its intended purpose, and it's reasonably secure.
There's a lot of corruption in Western Africa, and scammers have no difficulty in collecting WU payments.
If you want to bait this scammer, I suggest you visit our sister site http://www.419eater.com for advice and tips on how to do i safely.
Plase edit out the address in your message.