Hackers hijack Sen. Roach’s email, claiming she was stuck in Manila and needing money for plane ride home

State Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, was busy changing passwords and closing the door on an email hacking she suffered over the weekend. Someone getting into her personal account sent messages to her contacts including state employees - claiming she lost her bag and passport in Manila, Philippines, and needed cash right away to pay for a ticket home.

The breach was reported to AOL, which handles her personal email. The senator's legislative mail was not affected.

Even so, the Legislative Services Center put out an alert to Capitol Campus staffers alerting them to the spoof, which looked like it had actually come from Roach herself. Rustynne Dalton, manager of the customer-support group at the LSC, said there were reports of people getting the message so they put out a message to state workers.

“What we tried to do this morning was use it for educational purposes on the campus about a spoofing attack,’’ Dalton said.

Roach said in an email from her legislative account that her Facebook account also was hacked.

The email spoof claimed she had been given a temporary passport but still needed money to pay for a ticket home. Roach, as it turns out, is in her Senate office this morning in Olympia.