Sister Sledge Singer Victimized by 'Stranded Traveler' Hack Job

Sister Sledge's Kathy Sledge was the victim of one of those "stranded traveler" email hacks -- and it was so convincing her friends panicked and nearly forked over their cash to the hackers.

The email read, "Thought i could reach you out for help, My Family and I had to be in Manila,Philippines for short vacation" -- blah, blah (we've all gotten 'em), but bottom line is Kathy supposedly got mugged on vacay, and couldn't get home without some wired money.

Several of Kathy's friends, some famous, got the email ... and were worried -- since Kathy does travel a lot. Oddly, they'd never seen one of these scams up close. We know at least a couple were smart enough to ask around if the email was legit, and once the laughter died down ... they found out it was a hack job.

Crisis averted. Meanwhile, Kathy was unknowingly chilling safely at home, next to her phone.