At least one area resident contacted the Mahoning Township Police Department regarding an alarming email that was received.  The email was identified as a fraudulent attempt to extort money from the victim.  This particular email was identified by police as the “hitman scam.”  The victim usually receives an unsolicited email from someone they don’t know.  The email identifies the sender as a “hitman” hired and paid a lot of money by a friend of the victim to kill them. The fraudster demands a sum of money to call off the hit and claims he will provide a tape containing evidence as to who hired him once the amount is paid. The recipient is threatened with murder if they fail to comply. The recipient is also threatened that they are currently being watched by the hitman’s team and that the hitman will kill the recipient’s family if the recipient contacts law enforcement.

Anyone receiving this type of email should delete it.  Responding to the email just sends a signal to senders (usually oversees) that they’ve reached a live account. It also escalates the intimidation.  Anyone receiving this type of email should recognize it as a fraudulent scheme and file a complaint at the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s website at www.ic3.gov