Crypto Death Threat Scams More Frequent, FBI Warns Cases Are ‘Heavily Underreported’

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned Internet users about false death threats as a new method of cryptocurrency extortion, ABC California reported on Friday Jan. 26.

One of the victims, introducing themselves as Christiane, used FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) to inform the agency that she received an email with a death threat. The email said: “I’ll be short. I’ve got an order to kill you,” and demanded Christiane to pay $2,800 in U.S. dollars or Bitcoin in order be spared by the would-be assassin.