Local woman’s life threatened in e-mail scam
In a day where Internet scams offering easy money abound, a local woman has been targeted by a different type of online predator ‘ this one claiming he is a hit man who will spare her life if she pays $5,000.
‘I’ve been paid to eliminate you,’ reads the e-mail received recently by local resident Renea Jones directing her to make two payments totaling $5,000 to call off the hit. ‘Someone you call your friend wants you dead by all means, and the person has spent a lot of money on this.’
Jones, who said she cannot think of anyone who would want her murdered, said she received the e-mail from a man calling himself ‘Harry Jones’ directing her to contact him through his e-mail at harryjones44@hotmail.com. The e-mail, full of grammatical errors and misspellings, claims he is ‘sympathetic’ to her and might spare her life if she pays him the money.
‘Do you want to live or die? It’s up to you,’ the e-mail reads. The person also claims he will provide a tape of the person who ordered the hit. ‘Get back to me now if you’re ready to enter a deal with me.’
The e-mail also claims she is being monitored and warns that going to the police will get her and her family killed. However, Jones did just that, turning the e-mail over to police.
‘We are looking into it but chances are this is another scam and the person is far away,’ said McMinnville Police Investigator Nicole Mosley, who has worked an assortment of Internet scams. ‘Threatening a person’s life like this is unusual.’
Mosley said the problem is that most hotmail addresses are untraceable and that often scammers are not even in the same country as their victims.
However, given the threats made, the scammer, if caught, would not only face interstate fraud charges but also charges of assault for putting the victim in fear for her safety.
Jones said she is more angry than scared, noting she wants to make sure other people here are alerted to this scam.
‘I want other people here to be aware this scam is going on and not to send people like this their money,’ said Jones, emphasizing she hopes others will not be intimidated by such threats. ‘If they do catch this person, I intend to prosecute him to the full extent of the law.’
‘Do you want to live or die? It’s up to you. Get back to me now if you’re ready to enter a deal with me.’
‘ E-mail received by Renea jones