AN ELDERLY Catholic nun appears to be the latest victim of a scam that has seen con men breaking into the e-mail accounts of at least half a dozen people here and trying to fleece their friends out of thousands of dollars.

Sister Maria Ng's contacts received an e-mail from the account of the 71-year-old nun saying she was stranded in Nigeria after losing her passport and money.

The e-mail went on to say that Sister Maria was attending a youth programme in Africa, she was starving after losing her valuables and desperately needed $2,300 to return home.

Read Theresa Tan's story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.