email hacked and passport exposed

[Anonymous]

My Dad's email got hacked and bunch of people on his address list got one of those emails saying that he's trapped in some 3rd world country so please send me money, etc. One of our gullible relatives replied to his email to figure out where to send money, and the hacker replied with a copy of my dad's passport, probably to make it look more convincing. It turns out that my dad had a attached scanned copy of his passport and the hacker found it. My dad is currently out of the country and is not so computer literate, so I can't sit next to him in front of the computer to get his email straightened out for at least a week. What action should I take? What is the danger of someone else getting a hold on one's passport info? My dad says he has no credit card or bank account linked to his email but I can't really tell unless I go through his email and see what's there myself. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I am not an expert, but the first thing I would probably do is close the email account. I'm sure there's a place on gmail or yahoo mail to report a hacked account and they will close it immediately.

Notify the state department that the passport has been compromised. However, this could pose a problem since your dad is out of the country. Depending on where he is and when he is planning on returning, it might be a problem.

[Anonymous]

No advise, but it's pretty scary that they went through the emails to find the passport copy. I'm going through my email to see if I left any sensitive info.

[Anonymous]

OP,
He should call the US Embassy wherever he is and ask their advice, I'm thinking he needs a new passport STAT. This passport could, emphasis on could, lead to all sorts of issues, like him getting put on the no fly list if someone tries to use it or identity fraud.
Getting his email straightened out: Can he give you the password and then can you go through and get all email addresses and then close it down?

[Anonymous]

I would not worry. they can do very little with a scanned copy of his passport. Call google or yahoo or whatever and get them to close down the email account immediately - this is a common scam so they will know what to do.

the risk is to anyone stupid/kindhearted enough who receives the email and sends money, not really to your father.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not worry. they can do very little with a scanned copy of his passport. Call google or yahoo or whatever and get them to close down the email account immediately - this is a common scam so they will know what to do.

the risk is to anyone stupid/kindhearted enough who receives the email and sends money, not really to your father.

This.

A similar story happened to friend of mine, except that she wasn't traveling, she was sitting at home and, suddenly, started getting worried phone calls and sms-messages. Apparently, a hacker broke into her gmail account and sent a message to her contact list saying that she was mugged in London and needed money.

She did contact Gmail immediately, and the account was closed.

[Anonymous]

1. Send a mass email to everyone in his contact list and tell them that his email was hacked and to ignore any scam requests from his a/c.

2. File a fraud alert (90 days) with one of the credit unions. You can do this online.

3. File a police report when he's back. Then file an extended fraud alert. You need a police report for that.

Good luck!