NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
March 17, 2008
Contact: Michele Nicholson
Public Information Officer
(850) 651-7420
BOGUS EXTORTION E-MAILS
CIRCULATING
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office wants to
warn the public about bogus extortion “hitman” e-mails circulating in the area.
A Destin man is the latest resident to report receiving one of the threatening
e-mails on his computer. It stated it was from “Al-Qaeda Networks” and it
threatened his life if he didn’t send the group $10,000 in two separate
installments.
The man’s name
is never mentioned in the e-mail. It stated that they are the group responsible
for the September 11th bombings, that they’re
watching the person,
and want to see if he wants to live or
die. At the end of the e-mail, it warned the recipient not to notify the police
or even tell anybody because someone he knows wants him dead.
Such e-mails claiming
to be from an assassin’s group, a hitman, or a terrorist network have been
circulating around the country and are believed to have originated overseas. If
you should get such an e-mail, do not hit the reply button or provide any
personal information that could compromise your identity or open you up to
identity theft. Notify your local law enforcement agency. The FBI also
encourages you to file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.
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