A FORMER Royston Crow photographer has been the victim of a bizarre scam that involved emails being sent from his account to his entire address book begging for money.

Neville Chuck, who took snaps for the Crow between 1968 and 2005, ‘sent’ the emails which stated that he and his family had been robbed at gun point in Manilla.

It then went on to say he had no way of getting home, and that he needed money to be sent to him.

Mr Chuck had no idea the messages were being sent. He said: “Somebody rang me Friday (October 1) afternoon and said they had received an email off me. I then had a stream of calls over the weekend.

“A few of them asked me if I was alright, and said they didn’t even know I was in Manilla. I have never even been to Manilla!

“I have had to warn people that I was Ok, but I’m pretty sure that nobody was fully taken in by it.”

The email also stated that ‘Neville’ was in danger of missing his flight, and was being held by the hotel over unpaid bills.

“The catch-line of the email read ‘sad news,’ which encouraged folk to open it,” he said.

“It went on to read about how we were robbed, and that I had tears dripping down my face as I was typing it.”

“The emails have not only gone to friends and acquaintances as far away as New Zealand, but as I’m a churchwarden, to lots of clergy including archdeacons and bishops.”

As a result of the scam, Mr Chuck has lost all his emails, his contacts, and has had to change his email address.

“I have not only lost all my e-mail addresses on the computer, but all the emails sent to me during the last couple of years. It’s wasted a lot of my time trying to sort things out,” he said.

After telling police, Mr Chuck was told that he was not the only one in the local area that has had this happen to them.

HAVE you been the victim of an attempted email scam that plunged your friends and family into worry? Let us know by ringing The Crow on 01763 244977 or emailing news@royston-crow.co.uk.