The Information Security Office, Texas Dept of Information Resources, has been notified by two different state entities of death threat emails received by state employees.
The emails appear to be part of an ongoing phishing scam aimed at soliciting personal information, later used for identity theft. The email threats most likey originate from abroad, as indicated by the poor grammer/spelling often exhibited in the communications (sample below).
The scam has been circulating since 2006, with various versions appearing each year. A FBI Alert on this scam can be found at:
It is recommended these email threats be brought to the attention of your state or local law enforcement authorities, (such as the Texas Department of Public Safety's Computer Information Technology & Electronic Crime (CITEC) Unit), and/or to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (via their web portal), www.ic3.gov.
DIR Security Office
Texas Dept of Information Resoucres
Dirsecurity@dir.state.tx.us
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SAMPLE DEATH THREAT EMAIL
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 5:57 AM
Subject:
Hello,
I am very sorry for you , 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 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 this person have spent a lot of money in this venture,This person came to us and told me that he wanted 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.I called my client back and ask him of your email address which I didn't tell him what I wanted to do with it and he gave it to me and I am using it to contact you now. As I am writing to you this mail my men are monitoring you and they are telling me everything about you.Do you want to Live or Die?Get back to us now if you would eb able to meet up with our demand in other to spare your life.
WARNING: DO NOT THINK OF CONTACTING THE POLICE OR EVEN TELLING ANYONE BECAUSE I WILL KNOW,REMEMBER, SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU VERY WELL WANT YOU DEAD! I WILL EXTEND IT TO YOUR FAMILY, INCASE I NOTICE SOMETHING FUNNY ABOUT YOUR TELLING THE SECURITY ABOUT IT BECAUSE A GOOD LOOK IS OUT YOU AT MOMENT.
DO NOT COME OUT ONCE IT IS 7:PM UNTIL I MAKE OUT TIME TO SEE YOU AND GIVE YOU THE TAPE OF ALL DISCUSSION WITH THE PERSON WHO WANT YOU DEAD THEN YOU CAN USE IT TO TAKE ANY LEGAL ACTION. GOOD LUCK AS I AWAIT YOUR REPLY.
(Sample death threat email)
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