Kinda Creepy

The email claimed to be from my Aunt. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, she had gone to the Philippines on business. While there a bus she was traveling on had suffered a mechanical failure and crashed into a produce supply truck. She was lucky to escape from the inferno with only second degree burns, but had lost her passport and cell phone in the fire. My Aunt's email then went on to ask for assistance with her two thousand dollar medical bills that resulted from her ordeal.

I was immediately suspicious of the email. First of all, who would come to me for financial assistance? Anyone who is acquainted with me would know that they were barking up the wrong tree if they were coming to me for a loan. Also, my Aunt does travel but going to the Philippines on 'business' didn't seem feasible because she's self employed. Then there's the fact that the email didn't list any contact info. It just asked for a 'Immediate Response Needed'.

So I called my Aunt and left a voice mail, explaining the situation, and then called my Father to see if he'd heard anything. I was convinced it was a hoax, spam, whatever but I needed to be sure.

It was a hoax. Someone had hacked into my Aunt's email - never give your email to anyone. She fixed everything with her email server, and sent out an apologetic email to everyone who was concerned. She joked about being worth more than the two thousand dollars the bogus email was asking for. I was relieved.

Then my Mom's ring tone sounds on my cell phone. 'M! O! M! Mom! M! O! M! Mom!' It was my father returning my call from his home phone. I haven't changed my ring tone for their home number, or her cell phone which my dad sometimes uses since her passing. I leave my cell phone on vibrate most of the time and this is the first time I've heard her ring tone since she died in July. It was the perfect kinda creepy ending to the whole weird ordeal.