[July 04, 2009] Old e-mail scam hits Internet: Police say hit delete Tweet Jul 04, 2009 (The Dominion Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- IF YOU RECEIVE a "hitman" email, contact the police and file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) by clicking on the link at dominionpost.com. At first, they said they had been hired to kill you. Now, they say they will kill you and your family if you don't comply. People across the country have been receiving a frightening e-mail, purportedly from a member of the "Ishmael Ghost Islamic Group" whose gang has decided to assassinate you, Craig Butterworth, of the National White Collar Crime Center, said. If the recipient does not wire $800 within 72 hours, the e-mailer threatens to kill him -- and members of his family if they can't find him first. The e-mail is a scam, Butterworth said, and is a new version of another hitman scam that originated in 2005 or 2006. That email purportedly came from a Mexican assassin who'd been hired to kill the recipient but would forgo it for as much as $20,000. The new e-mail, found on several sources online, says, "Sometime ago, you offended a member of our gang. ... This member had ordered for your assassination. ... If you do not follow these requirements, I am sorry you shall not live to see the next three weeks, even if you see the next three weeks, a member of your family shall pay for it and another shall pay for every other week you stay alive until you are dead." The e-mail explains that a member of the gang realized he knows a member of your family and pleaded for you. They decided to spare your life if you wire them $800. The e-mail also informs the recipient not to tell anyone about the threat. Butterworth said, so far, they've received about 140 complaints about the e-mail across the country in the past couple of weeks. None have been reported to date in West Virginia. No one has come forward to say they paid the scammers the money and no one has reported any injuries associated with the e-mail, Butterworth said. But Butterworth said some people probably have paid the scammers the money and, out of embarrassment or fear, have kept quiet about it. He assured people, however, that the e-mail is most certainly a scam. "Your first reaction is likely to be one of intense fear and apprehension, but the reality is, this is spam," Butterworth said. Butterworth said you should always delete unsolicited e-mails without opening them because they may contain viruses. Monongalia County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Rick Adkins said if you aren't sure about the validity of the e-mail, just call police. "The first thing you should do is report it," he said. To see more of The Dominion Post or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dominionpost.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]