Orland police warn of unsettling blackmail scam | Scam of the Week

Buckle up because this week’s scam is downright creepy.

Last week the Orland Police Department issued a warning about a scam going around where someone explicitly targets local businesses or homes, nabs a photo of the place and sends a threatening letter or email saying they know your secrets and will release them to the world if you don’t pay them $2,000.

The department provided an example of one of these letters and it was about as unsettling as you would expect.

It’s a long-winded way of saying that they’ve been monitoring your browser history and details the tools they used to do so to sound legit and scary. It’s pretty wordy too, obviously the scammer has watched far too many late-night dramas and seems to think they are some kind of mastermind.

Funny enough, in all of their rambling and theatrics, not once do they mention or even hint at what your dirty little secret is. That’s because they have no idea.

It’s not hard to get a picture of someone’s home or business off of Google Maps’ Street View. I can go grab a picture of my home right now in detail. It’s also not hard to find someone’s contact information and send them an extremely weak fanfic of a “Succession” episode pretending to be a big scary blackmailer. This basement-dweller thinks they are a lot smarter than they are.

The Orland Police Department and I recommend that you ignore it and don’t hand over any personal information or money.

If you receive a letter or email like this or provided information to the sender, report it to the police ASAP.

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Scam of the Week generally runs every Tuesday. Readers are welcome to contact reporter Jake Hutchison to report scams and potential scams they have come in contact with by calling 828-1329 or via email at [email protected].