> In my case the hacker asked to all my contacts with an automatic message for some Liberty Reserve money. Most of them trust me and my account, so they were inclined to accept.

I'm not sure why anyone would give money to a friend via Liberty Reserve, just because a friend requests some via an instant message. The average person has probably never heard of Liberty Reserve either. Before sending any money of any kind, wouldn't one ask the friend what's wrong whereupon it would become obvious it's not them?

Maybe I'm just deeply skeptical and distrusting and the rest of the world is more optimistic.