If you wake up in the middle of the night with a text message from a supposed drug cartel who says they will kill you and everyone you love if you don’t pony up some serious cash — pretend, instead, it’s an email from a Nigerian prince, police say.
Sound strange? Well, yes, but a text message scam has people shaken to their core.
KABC reports that a California man, who wants to remain anonymous, received a threatening text from a so-called drug cartel claiming the man wasted his time and, because of that, owed him a significant amount of money.
The supposed cartel claimed the man was being watched and also included grotesque photos — one of a decapitated person — to show how serious the threat was.
“The message I received was pretty shocking and scary at first. It was definitely concerning,” said the almost-victim, who contacted authorities. “They said I needed to pay them money or else they were going to basically annihilate my family and me.”
The new scam will claim to the victim angered a Mexican cartel who found out their identity through another family member and, if the victim doesn’t pay money, the cartel will have his goons wipe out their family.
The scam artist will also send in photos of men holding up A-47 rifles or other mass casualty weapons, as well as disturbing images to elicit a fear response, and order victims to pay up with a prepaid debit and, gift card or wire money.
Scott Matalon, spokesman for the city of Port Hueneme Police Department, said, “It is a scam. It’s fake and the best suggestion we have is go ahead and delete that message and also block the phone number from which it came from.”