A woman was left cold after receiving a disturbing email from her own address in the early hours of the morning. Cyndi Szarmach shared the message on Threads, seeking advice on what to do.
The Disturbing Email
The email, sent at 1.37am, began: 'You're a pleasant distraction. I don't have much time, so let's get straight to the point. I want to make you an offer that you can refuse, but only once.' It then claimed to have her full personal information, including social security number, driver's license, login credentials, bank account access, and card details.
The scammer threatened to sell the data on the darknet unless she paid 617 USD (about £452.79) in bitcoin within one day. They said: 'After payment, I will delete the folder containing your data.'
Reassurance From Others
Other users quickly reassured her. One wrote: 'They send out thousands of these a day, knowing some people will fall for them. Just ignore it, they don't have s***. If they did, they'd already have sold it all because the data he claims he has is worth a LOT more than $600.' Another added: 'They've been sending this same text with this scam email for like two decades at this point lol.'
Cyndi noted that the email was unusually well-written compared to typical scams. Others simply advised: 'Please don't send them any money.'
