FBI Warns of Hit Man Scam Resurgence

The FBI is warning people not to be disturbed by an e-mail scam that threatens your life and orders you to pay up to avoid being the target of a hired hit man.

The FBI said its Internet Crime Complaint Center continues to receive thousands of reports concerning the hit man e-mail scheme. The FBI notes that while the content of the missive has evolved since similar hit man scams first surfaced in late 2006, the message remains the same, claiming the sender has been hired to kill the recipient.

In some cases, the use of names, titles, addresses, and telephone numbers of government officials and business executives, and/or the victims' personal information are used in an attempt to make the fraud appear more authentic, the FBI said.

I've heard about these scams before, but never actually seen one of the e-mails until today. Below is a copy of one of the scams making the rounds now.

"Dear Friend,
Goodday to you.
Am very sorry for you my friend, is a pity that this is how your life is going to end as soon as you don't comply. As you can see there is no need of introducing myself to you because I don't have any business with you, my duty as I am mailing you now is just to KILL/ASSASINATE you and I have to do it as I have already been paid for that.
Someone you call a friend wants you Dead by all means, and the person have spent a lot of money on this, the person also came to us and told me that he want you dead and he provided us with your name, picture and other necessary information's we needed about you. So I sent my boys to track you down and they have carried out the necessary investigation needed for the operation on you, and they have done that but I told them not to kill you that I will like to contact you and see if your life is Important to you or not since their findings shows that you are innocent.

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Brian Krebs on Computer Security. The Washington Post Company.