Thousands of fans of cyclist Mark Beaumont were left gobsmacked when an email purporting to come from him suggested he had been mugged “at gun point.”
Mark added that the ruse was not the most sophisticated and that most people would hopefully see through it.
“I am also trying to contact Google to see if there is anything they can do about it. I am not sure whether this is something the police might be interested in, but it is clearly a case of identity theft so I might given them a call to discuss it.”
A message added to Mark’s Facebook in the wake of the scam alerted his army of fans to the email and urged them not to part with any cash.
“Hey my emails have been hijacked this morning, so if you get a suspicious message asking for money please ignore and delete,” Mark wrote.
It is unclear whether the cyclist has been targeted specifically because of his fame or if the identity theft was carried out at random.
Mark rose to prominence three years ago when he broke the world record for cycling around the world, covering 18,296 miles in 194 days and 17 hours. In 2009-10 he cycled from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, stopping to climb the highest peaks of Denali and Aconcagua en route.
He is writing his second book and is also in training for his next expedition, details of which have not yet been released.
The message sent from an account registered to the former Dundee High pupil said he was stranded in Spain and contained a plea for cash.
However, when contacted by The Courier on Wednesday, Mark was quick to reveal it was a result of identity theft.
He reassured well wishers he was safe at home in Britain, and described the email as “complete nonsense.”
Today he tweeted, “Getting out on the bike after all the annoyance of a wasted day sorting my hacked emails made me remember what’s really important.”
Mark, who shot to fame when he cycled round the globe in 2008, was last night considering whether to contact the police.Follow Mark at MrMarkBeaumont on Twitter.An email sent from a googlemail account registered to him claimed he had been robbed “at gunpoint” and left penniless while on holiday in Spain.
It went on to suggest his contacts could help him by sending him money, which he would later pay back. The email dropped in to thousands of mail boxes shortly after 9.30am on Wednesday.
Titled simply “Hi,” the message’s contents were brief but worrying. “My sincere regrets for this sudden request, things actually got out of control on my trip to Valencia, Spain,” the message stated.
“I came down here on vacation, was mugged and all my belongings cash, cellphone and credit cards were all stolen at gun point.
“It is such a traumatic experience for me. I need your help flying back home as I am trying to raise some money.” The message went on to state Mark would pay back any money sent out.
“Am cash strapped at the moment,” it continued. “I’ve made contact with my bank but the best they can do is to mail me a new card which will take two to four working days to arrive here.
“I need you to lend me some money to sort myself out of this predicament, will pay back once I get this over with.”Money transferThe message concludes by urging recipients to send cash by money transfer and is signed “Mark Beaumont.”
Mark said he was working flat-out to fix the “mess.”
“The email has gone to thousands of people, so it is really annoying,” he said. “Somebody has obviously hijacked my account but I cannot get access into it to sort it out because the passwords have been changed.”
Mark said he was aware of the scam within minutes of the email being dispatched.
“I knew what had happened pretty much straight away because the email was sent to one of my other accounts,” he continued. “I have been trying to sort it out ever since but it is very widespread it is extremely frustrating.
“I am doing everything I can across social media sites to let people know this is a scam.”
Continued…