This threatening email, redacted by police, was sent to a 23-year-old Brownstown Township woman last month. It begins with "I know visiting (redacted address) would be a more convenient way to contact if you don't cooperate, and then adds, "look familiar?" right above a picture of where she lives.
“This email was so disturbing to her when it gave her name, gave her phone number and a picture of her family home, that she was just petrified that someone was targeting her," said Brownstown Police Deputy Chief Andrew Starzec.
Starzec said the woman declined to go on camera because she fears for her safety. But he posted the redacted phishing email on the Brownstown Township's social media pageto warn others.
“The home is the most sacred thing that a person has," he said. "It's their refuge. And to have a suspect say, ‘I know where you live, this is your home.’ It's worrisome to anybody.”
The scammer claims to have installed spyware on an app the person frequently uses, writing, "been keeping tabs on your pathetic existence for a while now." Then the bad actor threatens to share incriminating video of the woman if she doesn't pay nearly $2,000 via a Bitcoin address or QR code within one day.
"Once the suspect knows they can get some money from you, they will likely continue to try and get more money from you," Starzec said.
This was obviously disturbing to the Metro Detroiters that I spoke with.
"What would you do if you saw an email that had a picture of your house?" I asked.
“I’d definitely be a little scared, be a little intimidated and report it for phishing," said Southfield resident Shae Felton.
“Yeah, as a woman, I don’t like that. I hope she’s okay and still feels safe," said Royal Oak native Becca Zardus.
“I’d be very, very alarmed if that were on my, posted somewhere – especially when you have a family and kids and all that," said Troy resident Jamie Orow.
"Yeah, that’s google maps. I mean it’s all available,“ said Peter Syach from Livonia. "It’s getting more and more dynamic, these scammers. You just have to be diligent."
The usual red flags of misspellings or grammatical errors were few and far between in this conversationally-written email.
But the red flags that do stand out? Making the victim pay through unconventional means, like gift cards or cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. A sense of urgency is another red flag.
"I think that they were asking this to be, to happen within a short period of time," Starzec said. "And that really requires the victims to make a split second decision without asking for advice."
Don't fall for it. The good news? The targeted person in this case knew there was nothing compromising on her phone and did not pay up. Her Dad also got the exact same email featuring his personal information. They reported it to police.
The bad news? Similar emails have popped up in Grand Rapids and Georgia.
Starzec told me he's seen people lose all their money — even their retirement savings — because of phishing scams. He encourages anyone who receives a threatening extortion email to report it to their local police and the Federal Trade Commission,as well as the IC3, which is the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
