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Straw stranded in Nigeria, according to hackers

The internet security of email accounts and online threats posed by cyber crooks has been highlighted by a hacking incident involving the UK justice minister.

Mr Jack Straw's email account has reportedly been hacked into by cyber crooks, who sent out messages to his contacts stating the justice secretary was stranded in Nigeria.

According to the Telegraph, the MP's Blackburn constituents, Ministry of Justice officials, Labour party members and even council bosses are all believed to have received the messages asking for money.

Confirming the incident to the newspaper, Mr Straw said: "I started getting phone calls from various constituents asking if I was really in Nigeria needing $3,000 (£2,000).

"The internet is wonderful in many ways, but these gangs put a lot of effort in because they make money from it. In a lot of cases they do get people to cough up."

When he was the home secretary in 2001, Mr Straw set up the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, whose mandate is to tackle cyber crooks.

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