Spam emails threatening death by a hit man unless $20,000 is paid are a hoax the FBI said, restating earlier warnings given in January 2007 and December 2006.
"A new scam cropping up in e-mail boxes across the country is preying not on recipients' greed or good intentions, but on their fears," the FBI said last year.
"The scam e-mail, which first appeared in December, threatens to kill recipients if they do not pay thousands of dollars to the sender, who purports to be a hired assassin."
The death threat emails usually contain punctuation, spelling and grammar errors. They may also contain personal information used to intimidate the recipient. The spammer's primary goal is to gain access to the recipient's bank account.
The FBI says that people who receive such emails should not be concerned about the use of personal information contained in the bogus messages because it is widely available. They warn not o reply to the spam emails but to report them to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.
FYI
I received the above mentioned email so I clicked on your link to the 'CENTER' to report it BUT below is what they said in regards to that type of scam/spam. Needless to say, I DO NOT FEEL THREATENED! but I would think it should be report to some kind of law enforcement agency.
Q: Can I file a complaint if I have been threatened over the Internet via email, chat room, or on a website?
If you think your life is in danger, please contact your local and/or state police immediately!
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Example of email
Below is the actual threat email I received:
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ATTN.
I am very sorry for you, is a pity that this is how your life is going to end as soon as you don't comply. As you can see there is no need of introducing myself to you because I don't have any business with you, my duty as I am mailing you now is just to KILL you and I have to do it as I have already been paid for that.
Someone you call a friend wants you Dead by all means, and the person have spent a lot of money on this, the person also came to us and told me that he want you dead and he provided us with your name ,picture and other necessary information's we needed about you. So I sent my boys to track you down and they have carried out the necessary investigation needed for the operation on you, and they have done that but I told them not to kill you that I will like to contact you and see if your life is Important to you or not since their findings shows that you are innocent.
I called my client back and ask him of you email address which I didn't tell him what I wanted to do with it and he gave it to me and I am using it to contact you now. As I am writing to you now my men are monitoring you and they are telling me everything about you.
Now do you want to LIVE OR DIE? As someone has paid us to kill you. Get back to me now if you are ready to pay some fees to spare your life, $30,000 is all you need to spend You will first of all pay $5,000 then I will send the tape to you and when the tape get to you, you will pay the remaining $25,000. If you are not ready for my help, then I will carry on with my job straight-up.
WARNING: DO NOT THINK OF CONTACTING THE POLICE OR EVEN TELL ANYONE BECAUSE I WILL KNOW.REMEMBER, SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU VERY WELL WANT YOU DEAD! I WILL EXTEND IT TO YOUR FAMILY, INCASE I NOTICE SOMETHING FUNNY.
DO NOT COME OUT ONCE IT IS 7:PM UNTIL I MAKE OUT TIME TO SEE YOU AND GIVE YOU THE TAPE OF MY DISCUSSION WITH THE PERSON WHO WANT YOU DEAD THEN YOU CAN USE IT TO TAKE ANY LEGAL ACTION. GOOD LUCK AS I AWAIT YOUR REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL CONTACT
Name:bill
E-mail: bill_long05@xxxxx.com
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