(CITY OF KAWARTHA LAKES, ON) – The City of Kawartha Lakes detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) would like to warn residents of another extortion scam that is circulating in our community.
A resident of the City of Kawartha Lakes received a threatening e-mail this morning. A similar e-mail was received yesterday by a resident of Haliburton Highlands. The writer states they are connected to groups responsible for deadly bombings throughout the world and that they’ve been hired by a friend of the recipient to have them killed. The e-mail requires the recipient to reply to a specific e-mail and to be prepared to send money.
Although all threats should be taken seriously, police believe this is a scam being used to extort money through fear. Police are reminding residents to not open e-mails from people they do not know. Computer programs are capable of generating random e-mail addresses. If an e-mail is opened from one of these programs you may be subjected to future fraud attempts. Ensure you have a current firewall or anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed on your computer.
Frauds and attempted frauds can be reported to your local police and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center at 1-888-495-8501. For more information on current frauds visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center online.
