Online Extortion: E-Mail Scam Includes Hit-Man Threat
January 15, 2007
A wave of spam-like e-mails is being distributed across the Internet. The e-mail contains a threatening message and attempts to extort money from the recipient. This e-mail scam preys on individual's fears by threatening to kill them if the sender, who identifies himself as a hired assassin, is not paid a large amount of money within a specified time frame.
The e-mails often target professionals at their work e-mail address. Recipients who have replied to the messages are shocked to find that the scammers provide personal details about the victim such as the name of a spouse or pet, street address, or a phone number in an attempt to prove they are telling the truth.
This is a hoax, so don't respond. The best defense is to delete—unopened—unsolicited spam e-mail.
Click here to read more from the FBI Web site.
