There’s nothing worse than receiving an email from a sender you don’t recognise, but it can be even more spine-tingling when it supposedly comes from your very own email address.
Spam emails are a pretty common fact of life. Whether they’re trying to sell you a ‘miracle diet pill’ that doesn’t actually exist, or a gym membership for a fiver, usually it’s quite easy to spot when it’s not on the level and you shouldn’t click on anything within it.
However, when one woman saw that she’d ‘sent herself an email’ in the early hours of the morning, her blood ran cold. Cyndi Szarmach headed to Threads to show people the weird email she’d received, wondering whether anyone had any advice for her as she was stumped.
She wrote: “I got a disturbing email at 1.37 am this morning, from myself…and everything is spelt correctly. I mean, yikes, y’all!”
The email 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 creepily continued: “I have:
- Your complete personal information: full name, date of birth, and home address.
- Your social security number and driver’s license details.
- All your email account login credentials, including this account.
- Other login details and your private messages.
- A multitude of files found on your devices.
- Access to your bank accounts.
- The details of your cards: number, exp date and CVV.
“I have compiled this entire package into a single folder. I can and intend to do two things with it. It is up to you to decide which one:
“I will send this entire package to darknet markets, where other criminals will buy it. It is unknown how they will use this information. They may purchase something illegal in your name, or they may not, but you will definitely not like it.
“Or you can buy it from me for a small fee of 617 USD (£452.79). Changing the entire package of documents and data is very expensive, very time-consuming, and unsafe. I already know that you have just read this text. “Do not try to ignore this. I only accept payment in bitcoins at the exchange rate at the time of transfer.”
They then shared where to send the bitcoin money to, claiming: “After payment, I will delete the folder containing your data, and you can continue living as before or, if you don’t trust me, take your time changing all your data. It’s more profitable for me if you pay me. It’s easier and better for everyone.”
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The scammer urged them to “take advantage” of their “unique offer,” saying that it would only be available for “one day,” trying to get Cyndi to panic and act quickly.
Someone reassured her, saying: “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 wrote: “They’ve been sending this same text with this scam email for like two decades at this point lol.” Cyndi replied, saying that it’s not usually “written this well,” however. Others just added: “Please don’t send them any money.”