Lucky Jr. targeted in email hack

LACONIA — Lucky Jr., the black Labrador owned by Ginny Sanborn and star of Sanborn Auto Repair’s marketing materials, is easily the Lakes Region’s most beloved dog. That celebrity comes with a cost, though, one which was made clear on Friday when Sanborn’s email was hacked by scammers overseas.

“Oh, what a mess!” said Sanborn on Tuesday.

The good news is that Lucky is not in trouble. He’s doing just fine, Sanborn said. The bad news, though, is that everyone in her contact list was bombarded with emails on Friday evening saying that he needed help, often in the form of $300 Amazon gift cards. She said all of the emails started with the phrase, “I have a humble request…”

“Everyone under the sun in Laconia got one,” said Sanborn, who is active in business circles as well as community projects such as the city’s dog park.

Sanborn said she learned of the hack when she started getting calls on Friday evening, some from people who saw through the scam and wanted to let her know of the breach, and others who thought that she and Lucky truly needed help. Regrettably, Sanborn said she knew of at least one person who fell for the scam and sent the hackers money.

If anyone responded to the request, Sanborn urged them to contact their credit card company’s fraud department to see if they should freeze their accounts or get a new credit card number.

With help from Reboot Computers and the Verizon store, Sanborn was able to get back into her email and learned that the hack was done from a Chromebook user in Nigeria.

Sanborn said she is left feeling shaken and a little paranoid.

“It’s not a good thing, it’s really kind of scary. The part that’s really scary is the part that says, ‘This is a humble request from Lucky Jr.’ I’m constantly checking credit cards to see if something else is happening.”

She said that the experience has highlighted the importance of basic security measures.

“Always check your email, change your passwords frequently, and if somebody requests something on email, even on text, you should always call somebody on the telephone, the old-fashioned way, and confirm it with them.”