New breed of scam email threatens execution
In what some would consider a particularly repugnant new twist on email cons, perpetrators have escalated to threatening the lives of their intended victims.
A Salmo man recently received an email (rife with spelling and grammatical errors) indicating that the sender was a hitman who had been contracted to murder the email’s recipient. The scammer then said he/she would consider allowing the man to live if he sends 0.4 Bitcoin (a Bitcoin is currently worth about $18,000) to an address included in the email.
The sender even went so far as to set a three-day deadline, and then to close with an apology.
“I sincerely regret that you became my target,” the missive reads.
Police say that, should you receive such an email, you should contact your local detachment, and most definitely do not send any form of money to the author of the email.
“I don’t think it’s cause for concern (in terms of any danger to the intended victim),” said RCMP Sgt. Darren Oelke. “I think they’re just taking the scam to the next level, and trying to create fear instead of promising a pot of gold. Maybe the old tactic isn’t working anymore, so they’re stepping it up.”
The man who received the email wasn’t concerned by it, but felt the public should know about this new method of criminal manipulation.
“I think it is harmless, I just would hate to see someone get scammed,” he said.
For more information on this and other scams of which you should be wary, visit http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams-fraudes/rep-sig-eng.htm
See below for a full transcript of the email:
Hi (recipient’s name),
I want you to take this letter seriously.
I’ve been thinking for a very long period of time whether it is worth writing this message to you and decided that you still have the right to know. I’ll try to be short. I’ve got an order to remove you, because cause inconvenience to a particular man. I studied you for quite a long period oftime and made a decision to give you a chance, despite the specifics of my work, the rules of which don’t allow me to do this, as this will damage my reputation (more 12 years of perfect order executions)in certain circles. But i decided to break some rules since this is my last order (I hope).
In general, let’s Break it down. I want you to pay the amount of 0.4 btc. I only accept Btc. Information on how to send funds in this currency you can easily find in Google. Here are my payment details below:
1L67uLCsWpuLvK1CvdzpDfjsHkp7w6mTo1
When i’ll receive funds I will tell you the name of the person order came from, plus all other the evidence i have. You then will be able to use them with the police. I would not recommend you to contact police, because you have a very little time (three days) and the police simply will not have enough time to investigate this matter.
Answering to this letter does not make any sense, i use one-time mailbox, because i care about my anonymity. I’ll contact you as soon as i’ll getfunds.
I sincerely regret that you became my target.