E-mail scam threatens murder plot
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/10/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO - The death threat came from 7,721 miles away, in a corner of Nigeria where con men are out of reach from local police.
It started as an e-mail, received last week by a businessman who opened his work account and came face to face with a price on his head and a demand for money.
He scoffed at the poorly written English and passed it off for the scam it was. But not everybody would.
"As people get those in their computer, they just don't know in this day and age," said Lt. Scott Paterson. "Some people get very, very worried."
Police are trying to get word out about the e-mail scam that has swept the nation since December 2006, and has now reached the city. Authorities have traced the transmission to Africa.
A survey sent to Southern California agencies show that the death threats have reached dozens of people, especially in the Los Angeles area.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said it's important not to reply to the e-mail because it opens the recipient up to identity theft or harassment.
The best thing to do, officials say, is to notify the Internet Crime Complaint Center at
http://www.ic3.gov.
The letters claim that the assassin has been hired by a friend of the victim to kill him. If the recipient pays thousands of dollars, the would-be killer writes, he will stop the hit and provide documentation the person can take to the police.
"The letter itself was poorly written," said Sgt. Dan Keil. "What was obvious in it is it had been written through basic translation."
Hundreds have received the death threats via e-mail, Eimiller said, and some have even paid money to stop the supposed assassin.
"The most important thing is to not respond. This is a scam," she said. "It's not easy to get your money back once you've sent it overseas."
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_6337464?source=most_viewed
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