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Identity thieves hack congressman's email


Hackers broke into the e-mail account of House deputy speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, a political ally of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, and sent a “help" message to all the persons in the contact list of the lawmaker. In a text message to GMANews.TV, Tañada said he was aware that e-mail accounts were being hacked but he did not expect that he would become a victim of it. “The spam message that was sent to my email contacts was a “pro-forma" message. Obviously, it is a scam. I received the same message before but from a different person. Obviously, the hacker is a foreign national," he said. Tanada’s fellow legislators and reporters covering the House of Representatives on Thursday received the message: “I am in a hurry writing this mail to you, I had traveled to Wales, UK for an urgent situation and unfortunately for me all my money was stolen at the hotel where I lodged. I am so confused right now, I don't know what to do or where to go. I didn't bring my phones here and the hotel telephone lines were disconnected during the robbery incident. So I have access to only emails. Please can you send me £1260 as early as possible so I can return home. As soon as I get home I would refund it immediately. Please I need you to get back to me so I can let you know how to send the money to me." I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks a lot for your willingness to help.....Western Union or MoneyGram happens to be a quicker means of sending the cash, and please bear in mind that I'll facilitate your reimbursement as soon as I get home. All you have to do is locate a Western Union or MoneyGram outlet or you can transfer online by using your Creditcard to log on to www.westernunion.com and get the money transferred in my name (as shown on my ID)," it added. Tañada's colleagues concerned Tanada’s colleagues expressed concern over the incident and stressed the necessity to craft a stronger anti-cybercrime measure. Davao Rep. Karlo Nograles said the hacking of the emails is a serious problem. “Apart from the fact certain highly confidential information are potentially exposed to hackers, the effort to modernize government transactions through e-governance and promote businesses through an array of electronic business solutions might be compromised. I think that Congress should really look into this and possibly craft a law that would strengthen our anti-cybercrime laws," Nograles said. Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said now is the right time to push for House Bill 511 or Cyber-Crime prevention Act of 2010 (House Bill 511) which seeks to define cyber-crime offenses and impose stiffer penalties against cyber-crimes. The bill also seeks to organize a more organized and capable anti-cyber crime unit, to be called the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center. It will be the lead agency in the fight against cybercrime offenses. It will also formulate and implement a national cyber security plan. A similar bill was approved on third reading during the 14th Congress but was not subjected to a bicameral conference. –VVP, GMANews.TV

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