Scam Told Hingham Residents To Send Bitcoins Or Die

HINGHAM, MA — A new scam received by two Hingham residents is threatened death for not meeting the demands, police said.

Two Hingham residents, including one 75-year-old senior, told police that they received an email that included a demand to give the sender bitcoins or they would be killed, according to the Hingham Police Department.

Neither woman sent money and knew it was a scam, but they were upset by the death threat. Both received emails from unfamiliar email address and messages were similar in their content, police said.

In short, the emails read:

The sender is a contract killer and had been hired to kill the resident (using their full name) but they did not really want to carry it out. They offered to give the resident the chance to void the contract if they paid the sender them instead (various amounts only in Bitcoins). If they paid quickly the sender would also provide them evidence of who hired them.

Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, has made headlines for its high value. As of Wednesday afternoon one bitcoin equals over $17,000.

As always, Hingham Police advises residents to not open emails from strange email addresses.