Greenfield Police warn of phishing scam

These types of emails are attempting to have an individual respond by paying hush money via Bitcoin and include a Bitcoin address to send the funds.

Investigators with the Greenfield Police Department are wanting to make the public aware of an email scam being reported, also known as "phishing emails".

These types of emails are attempting to have an individual respond by paying hush money via Bitcoin and include a Bitcoin address to send the funds. In these emails, the person will start by saying that they have placed malware on an electronic device or devices and have been monitoring your everyday movements, including some private moments. They then say that they will "expose you" if you do not pay the requested amount by "leaking" out embarrassing videos of you or your family via the internet. Most of these scams will follow up with a picture of the outside of your residence and have a comment to follow, "beautiful neighborhood btw". 

These types of emails are known as "phishing emails". The person will provide some personal information like your cell phone number and address in an attempt to make you believe that they are in fact watching you or monitoring your every move. The "personal information" provided in the email is not personal information and is made public with or without your knowledge and or consent. The picture of the exterior of your house can be found Google Maps which is taken from the roadway and uploaded into Google Maps. This picture is not taken by the person attempting to scam you or your family. They are using the pictures to scare you into paying the requested amount.

In a press release about the scam, Greenfield Police explained that if you believe you have received this type of email, don’t panic. Simply do not reply to the email or attempt to send any funds to the provided Bitcoin address. It is a scam. Simply delete it. 

These types of scams usually target elderly people along with families who do not have much experience in dealing with scams. If you are ever in doubt about an email you have received, please take a moment and talk with a family member or friend about it. If you still are hesitant about the email, you can always call law enforcement and have a police officer look at it to clarify if it is a scam or not.