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I just received an email from a friend's email account that conforms with the standard hoax where the person says they are traveling, have been robbed, and need money to pay for the hotel bill to get their things released. I'm not sure that my friend would know yet as she is indeed traveling. Should I report this? To who?

Thanks!

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    tell your friend directly and ask them to change their password...
    – makerofthings7
    Jun 9, 2014 at 18:54
  • I recommend contacting the police.
    – Steven Volckaert
    Jun 9, 2014 at 19:46

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The account has probably not been hacked, but the source address is being spoofed. (That is, the sender has forged your friend's address in the from line.) The From line in an email header is approximately as trustworthy as the return address on a piece of physical mail: you can technically write anything you want there, regardless of how well it meshes up with reality.

If you really believe your friend's email has been hacked, they should change the password of that email account, and the password of all accounts linked to that email account. If they can't get back in to the account, they should contact the email provider.

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