Sheriff warns of scam on Men
September 26, 2018
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Wayne County Sheriff Jody Ashley is warning residents of a scam involving indiscreet behavior going around that is trying to fleece men out of money. “These letters are nothing but a scam that is trying to get money and/or personal information from residents,” Ashley said. “I ask that people please ignore them. If you have concerns, please bring the letter to my office and we will discuss it with you and investigate it for you.” Ashley said a resident brought him a letter he recently received informing the resident that the writer had some secret information about him that he was going to share with his wife if he wasn’t paid off with Bitcoin. The letter stated, in part: “I’m going to cut to the chase. My name is SwiftTriangle75 and I know about the secret you are keeping from your wife and everyone else. More importantly,I have evidence of what you have been hiding. I won’t go into the specifics here in case your wife intercepts this, but you know what I am talking about.“You don’t know me personally and nobody hired me to look into you. Nor did I go out looking to burn you. It is just your bad luck that I stumbled across your misadventures while working a job around Waynesboro. I then put in more time than I probably should have looking into your life. “Frankly, I am ready to forget all about you and let you get on with your life. And I am going to give you two options that will accomplish that very thing. Those two options are to either ignore this letter or simply pay me $8,700.” The letter further states that the writer will take the information and evidence and deliver it to the resident’s wife, along with sending copies to family friends. The other option is to pay what the let- ter writer calls “my confidentiality fee” in the amount of $8,700 in Bitcoin. The writer also points out that the letter can- not be traced back to the writer. “So that won’t help,” the letter states, “and it won’t stop the evidence from destroying your life. I’m not looking to break your bank. I just want to be com- pensated for the time I put into investigating you.”The letter says that using Bitcoin will keep the transaction anonymous, and that payment must be received within 10 days of the postmarked date on the envelope of the original letter. On the back of the letter are detailed instructions on how to make payment through Bitcoin.“A number of scams go through our area on a regular basis,” Ashley said. “I urge all residents not to give out any per- sonal information and to definitely not send any money — whether real money or crypto-currency such as Bitcoin — to anyone or any business unless you are sure of the legitimacy of that person or business. “We will do all we can to try and track down these individuals who are pulling these scams, but they are often hard to track and often times are located out- side of the country. I just want to urge everyone to be careful when it comes to matters such as this and to investigate any and all offers and requests for money very thoroughly before acting upon them.”
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