Somebody hacked into my friend’s email account and sent every person on her contact list a message saying she was stuck in Mallorca.

It claimed that, because her passport and credit card had been stolen, she urgently needed money to take the first flight back home and pay a hotel bill.

The message urged the receiver to send some money through a Western Union money transfer to my friend’s temporary address in Spain.

I was almost falling for it – only at the very last minute did I suspect a scam.

Someone else didn’t, and sent some money which will now never be recovered.

As my email address was on my friend’s mailing list, it might well have been hacked too.

If you receive an email from someone asking for money, do not believe it – it is a scam.

Ottavio Pedretti, Brambledean Road, Portslade