If you receive an e-mail from a stranger posing as a hitman charged with assaulting or killing you, don’t panic. As indicated by the Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr site, this is a new terrifying phishing attempt.
In this summer period, scams on the web are multiplying at high speed. We have mentioned in our columns these scams involving fake tickets for Taylor Swift’s French tour, not to mention the scams that target holidaymakers (fake booking sites flight tickets, accommodation, etc.).
However, for several weeks, a new phishing campaign is scaring away users. As the Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr site explains, several waves of fraudulent messages of an unprecedented and rather terrifying kind have been spotted since May 2023.
No, a hitman don’t want your head
In these fake emails, a stranger introduces himself to you as a hitman who has been hired to assault you or end your life. In a burst of “generosity”, this “angel of death” 2.0 nevertheless offers you to cancel the contract hanging over your head and reveal the name of the sponsor, provided you pay it in turn.
In order to dissuade you from informing the police, the man claims to have a lot of information about you:
- your working hours
- your daily routes
- your travel habits
“So you have the option of suggesting that I do nothing. If I do not receive any money from you, I will accomplish my mission flawlessly”, he wrote in the email. Of course, we notice in the email that he does not specify any information he allegedly holds about you.
Also read: College patents 2023 – a suspicious domain name appears on the web, beware of scams!
What to do with this scam?
As you will have understood, this is a scam attempt intended to scare you in order to extort money from you. If you receive this kind of message, here are the behaviors to follow:
- Do not panic ! This email was sent to tens of thousands of people whose email address was stolen from the web through a security breach or sale on the dark web
- never answerotherwise you will be motivated by cybercriminals to continue their threats against you
- Don’t pay! According to the authorities, these fake hitmen never took action
- Immediately report the fraudulent message on Signal Spam as well as on Pharos, the dedicated platform of the Ministry of the Interior
If you have unfortunately paid these scammers, it is imperative to retain all evidence (emails, proof of payment), then file a complaint with the police station or the gendarmerie brigade. Also, contact your bank to cancel the payments, if it’s still possible.