NEEDHAM – Police in numerous Massachusetts communities are warning residents about a dangerous fraud in which some victims have lost thousands of dollars.
According to investigators, the scam involves fraudsters sending people an email containing a photo of their house, address, phone number, and a threatening letter demanding money.
Last week, scammers sent Kristen Ward a disturbing email.
“I felt terrified”
“I was worried, like here’s a picture of my house, my cellphone, and my first name, and the person keeps calling me by my first name, like do I have a stalker? “Is someone watching me?” Ward inquired.
The scammers claimed to have damning films and photographs that they obtained remotely and then demanded that she pay $2,000 using a cryptocurrency QR code, or they would send the so-called videos to all of her contacts.
Ward realized it was a hoax, and the scammers used an older photo of her property before it was painted.
“I’m a mom in my 40s with three middle schoolers so I knew that I didn’t have any footage to share that’s all that exciting to my contacts other than reading a good book ha-ha,” Ward said.
Scams reported in 5 towns
So far, police have received scam accusations from Needham, Foxboro, Marion, Sandwich, and Sharon.
According to police and senior cyber security experts, the scammers are most likely operating from overseas, utilizing publicly available information, therefore it’s important to keep your privacy settings up to date.
“They’re trying to scare you into thinking they know all sorts of stuff about you but instead they’re using publicly available information, like pictures of your home from Google Street View or maybe one of your passwords in the past was breached,” says Justin Armstrong, president of Armstrong Risk Management. “The recommendation is to ignore, don’t reply, don’t send them money it’s just a scam.”
As a past scam victim, Kristen wanted to spread the message before additional individuals fell victim.
“I fell for a more elaborate scam several years ago and it feels awful and personal, and people work hard for their money, and this is no different than breaking into someone’s home and stealing wads of cash,” says Ward. “It just happens to be over email.”
Experts suggest you can report this and other scams to the FBI’s Internet Crime Center.