Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Thu, May 10 2007
Extortion and intimidation part of e-mail scam
I somehow missed an FBI alert in January that warned us to be careful about a new type of e-mail scam. The recipient is basically targeted for extortion by the sender. The recipent is told that the sender will give them proof that someone the recipient knows and trust is trying to kill them. The recipient may be tempted to panic when the sender includes a few personal details about the recipient. The basic claim is that the sender has been hired to kill the recipient, but will not complete the job of assassin, and will reveal the name of the person who hired them, to the sender if the recipient gives them a large amount of money. The tone of the e-mails seem to be more threatening than helpful, but I'm wondering if that will change as time goes on and more criminals attempt this scheme. They may soften their language in order to try to get the recipent to trust them.
This takes the Nigerian scam to a whole new level with the threat of violence, so I thought it well worth mentioning. The FBI recommends that anyone receiving this type of e-mail should not attempt to contact the sender on their own, but should first notify the police.
posted at: 10:34 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
I somehow missed an FBI alert in January that warned us to be careful about a new type of e-mail scam. The recipient is basically targeted for extortion by the sender. The recipent is told that the sender will give them proof that someone the recipient knows and trust is trying to kill them. The recipient may be tempted to panic when the sender includes a few personal details about the recipient. The basic claim is that the sender has been hired to kill the recipient, but will not complete the job of assassin, and will reveal the name of the person who hired them, to the sender if the recipient gives them a large amount of money. The tone of the e-mails seem to be more threatening than helpful, but I'm wondering if that will change as time goes on and more criminals attempt this scheme. They may soften their language in order to try to get the recipent to trust them.
This takes the Nigerian scam to a whole new level with the threat of violence, so I thought it well worth mentioning. The FBI recommends that anyone receiving this type of e-mail should not attempt to contact the sender on their own, but should first notify the police.
posted at: 10:34 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
