With visions of John Backhouse being chased across the moors and highlands by Scottish hoteliers demanding "givus yer munae, ya squeefy Canadian scaffbag," many of the former mayor's friends had a puzzling email on their Tuesday morning computer screens.
The email was an impassioned plea from the retired Prince George mayor asking for emergency funding. The email was written "with tears in my eye" as Backhouse tried to come to grips with an armed robbery that left him and wife Vicky destitute during a vacation in Scotland. It described how hotel bills were unpaid and their flights were at risk of being missed.
"I'm freaked out at the moment and wondering if you could help us with a quick loan," wrote someone claiming to be Backhouse.
Only the real Backhouse didn't say it. Yes, that was his email address and yes, that was his home contact information at the bottom of the letter, but no he was not recently in Scotland and no he was not the author of the message.
"It happened this morning, and it has wiped out my address book and taken out my email account completely," Backhouse told The Citizen on Tuesday. "If anyone sends me an email it is diverting it somewhere else. It is really damaging. Fortunately, nothing else on my computer seems to be affected."
Thankfully, most of his friends thought as current city councillor Cameron Stolz did.
"Since I can't imagine His Worship ever saying 'I'm freaked out at the moment,' I'm posting this so no one falls for it," Stolz wrote on a Facebook posting.
Backhouse also pointed to that phrase as completely outside his vernacular.
"I can't remember the last time I said 'I'm freaked out' about anything. It would probably go back to the 1970s," said Backhouse, who was in good humour about the email but had strong concerns as well. He called police.
Prince George Mounties said people had to develop a sense for these sorts of frauds, like Stolz recognizing the incorrect Backhouse speaking style.
"Those type of scams we see mostly with the elderly," said RCMP media relations officer Gary Godwin. "If you do get something like this over the email, I would suggest you phone and ascertain what the real story is. Verify that by phone, not over the computer."
And that's what many of Backhouse's friends did, leading to an unexpected benefits, said Backhouse.
He received calls of support from friends who didn't believe the scam, but phoned to make sure he was indeed OK.
"It was nice to know they would have contributed if I needed it," he said, adding with another chuckle, "A couple of people have told me they wouldn't have sent me any anyway."
He also had contact with acquaintances who received similar emails Tuesday.
"So it is these things that spreads through your address book and links to other address books," Backhouse said. "Ugly. I don't understand it but it can be very damaging."
It also tried to stow away on Backhouse's Facebook channels but the social media company blocked it, sensing the risk.
Backhouse was told by Facebook officials that the enemy email could be traced back to Georgia, but that was not necessarily its true origin.
