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‘Hit Man’ E-mail Scam Preying on Recipients’ Emotions

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning that a fraudulent e-mail is circulating on the Internet with an extremely alarming message. Police call it a phishing e-mail.

The e-mail, which arrives from a 'hit man', says the sender has been assigned the duty of killing the recipient. It then asks the recipient whether he wants to live or die. The e-mal further says that someone has paid the hit man to execute the assassination, but if the recipient is ready to pay money, then his life could be spared.

According to Greg Bretzing, Special Agent of FBI, it isn't common for one to receive e-mail that says that someone has hired someone to kill the recipient, as reported by Ksl on January 12, 2009.

Bretzing further said that this kind of e-mail currently circulating represents a new scam. The message takes advantage of people's fear of death, but many would take it as a joke. Bretzing also says that people using the Internet for the first time, particularly the elders, are likely to fall its victim.

Meanwhile, in Plainfield, New Jersey, police have been registering complaints of the recent Hit Man E-mail Scam after the scary message reached the residents' mailboxes. Plainfield police received over a couple of reports during the 2nd week of January from residents who were recipients of the disturbing e-mail.

Jim Caliendo, a Police Officer in Plainfield, said that the scammers exploit people's emotions by scaring them. Most of them would just regard it as some fraud or the other. However, there are some people who might really believe that somebody wants them killed, as reported by TheHeraldNews on January 16, 2009.

Similarly, in July last (2008), two new versions of the scam started to surface, according to the FBI. By August end, FBI had got several thousand reports relating to the 'Hit Man' fraud. Hence, the bureau recommends that anybody who receives the 'Hit Man' scam message must get in touch with their area law enforcement as well as report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Related article: “Loopholes did not cause online banking thefts”: ICBC

» SPAMfighter News - 2/2/2009

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