Scammer Disguising As Friend Asking For Loan

I got the following e-mail today, but it had a friend's name and address in the "From:" field. It was obvious to me that my friend hadn't sent it after reading just a bit. Then, when I came to scamwarners and found the same scammer being reported for a different scam (in "Auctions and online selling"), there was no doubt, was there?

Here is the e-mail I received:

(Start)

Hello,

Sorry I did not Inform You about my traveling to West Africa, Nigeria for a program.

Am having some difficulties . I misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuables were kept i will like you to assist me with a loan of $2,300 to sort out my hotel bills and get myself back home.

I will appreciate whatever you can afford and I'll pay you back as soon as i return, Meanwhile i will want you to wire the money to me right here via western union money transfer to me via the hotel manager's information due to the loss of my passport. The details to send the money below .
Here are the details :

Name: CURTIS WOOD FOWLER
Address :Eko Hotel And Suites. Rm 129a.
City: Lagos
Zipcode:23401
State:Lagos
Country:Nigeria

As soon as you make the transfer kindly get back to me with the details of the transfer such as :

Full sender's Name:
MTCN #:
Sender's Country:
Amount Sent:
Text Question and Answer:

Kindly let me know if you can be of help.

Hope to read from you soon.

(End)

This is the first time I have ever received this sort of thing, and I am not sure what all I should do. I didn't want to just delete it and forget about it; not only was this person trying to scam me, but he used the name and e-mail address of my friend.

I figured I should post it here so that others are aware of it, but is there more that I should do, i.e. notify my ISP, etc. or is it enough that I informed scamwarners?

I appreciate your site, and was relieved to find you when I wanted to report this scammer. Thank you,

centime

Welcome to Scamwarners and thanks for your posting.
What has probably happened is that your friend has fallen for a phishing scam and given away his/her email password. And the scammer has sent that email to everyone in the address book.
So you need to warn your friend although he may know something is wrong by now. He won't be able to use the account as the scammer will have changed the password. He needs to contact whoever provides his email account, and try and regain control, although he may not succeed. Sometimes Hotmail, etc, just close it.
There's nothing your ISP can do. We aren't an official organisation. We give advice, and scams listed here show up on search engines. Usually, the police, etc can do nothing.

Thank you very much, Arnold, for your reply. I have contacted my friend and let her know about the e-mail, and about your reply. So she now knows what to do - rather, what not to do - in the future.

I appreciate you getting back to me so soon, and for all the information on this website. Its too bad that there is no legal recourse most of the time against these scammers, as it is obvious after reading through posts on your site that the scams they perpetuate can be devastating.

Thank you so much.

centime

There's certainly no doubt about the damage scammers to to victims. But it's an international crime, with most of the scammers working out of Internet cafes thousands of miles away from the victims.
It's not a problem that's going to go away any time soon.