Bamboozled by an Email Hacker

When I received the email from a friend seeking help, I was more compassionate than thinking. What should I do? Who can  help me to assist my friend over there in  a remote country?

This happened on 19 June when I opened by email.

Let me show you the massage.

Hi,


Hpe you get this on time. I made a trip to Madrid, Spain and had my
bag stolen from me with cash and credit cards in it. I've made
contact with my bank but they are not providing a quick solution.
I'm physically ok and fine but I'm urgently in need of some money to
sort my self out of this predicament, I will pay back as soon as I
return.

Kindly let me know if you would be able to help me out so I can
forward you the details required for a wire transfer via the western
union as it is the best option to send money to me. I don't yet have a
local phone (still gathering my bearings and such), so email is
probably the best form of contact for now. I will expect your response
soon


Thanks SAS

And so a gullible me replied like this.


How much do you need. I will ask around to see how many of out friends can help pool some.


The next response from the hacker goes like this.


Thanks  for checking, I need just €950 euros to cover my traveling expenses, I will pay back as soon as I get back home. Let me know how possible this could be so i can send you the western union details.

Then a smarter me put on the verification process like this.

SAS,

Verify this and I will take action to raise the sum among friends:


Who was ECOoi?
Name of your three children.
Name of my children
Name the exminister of H whom I worked for
The name of my sister who worked for the H Division of the T
Name of your church


GB
XXXX

No response thereafter.

I phoned my friend SAS after a friend of mine told be that it could be a scam. SAS then told me someone has hacked into  his email compromising his address book.

What a lesson!