The Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) and the Joint Financial Crimes Unit (JFCU) have issued a warning to islanders and businesses, following authorities receiving reports of intimidating ransom emails, where the recipient or their family’s lives are threatened.
The emails are likely to be fraudulent and are threatening that people need to make a bitcoin payment in order to avoid them or their family members being hurt, or a hit man making an attempt on their lives.
They are relatively unsophisticated but still need to be treated with caution.
As people receive many unsolicited spam emails, and have become increasingly immune to basic scams, perpetrators as a result are either using more threatening methods or are using personal information, often mined from social media networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, to try to make their attacks appear more genuine.
What to do if you receive a threating email
• The JFSC and the JFCU take these allegations very seriously, although we do not believe that there is a credible threat of the actions being pursued.
• Nevertheless, we recommend anyone who has fallen victim to, or believes they have been targeted by, this scam to contact the JFCU at jfcuadmin@jersey.pnn.police.uk. In addition, if you are a regulated financial services provider, contact your supervisor at the JFSC.
• Anyone who has received emails or text messages of this nature should not otherwise action them – do not respond and do not send any money to the fraudsters.
Access to bitcoin and other untraceable cryptocurrencies is making such threats more common.
This warning is similar to recent advice issued by other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI.
• Further information on how to avoid attacks can be found on the National Cyber Security Centre website by clicking here