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Pinellas Park police warn public of new ‘hit man scam’
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
| Article published on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 |
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PINELLAS PARK – City police are warning residents of a new scam that involves an alleged assassin trying to make a back door financial deal in exchange for not being killed.
As strange and unbelievable as it may seem, police fear that some people, especially senior citizens, might fall for the scheme.
“People get tricked all the time,” Officer Donna Saxer of the crime prevention bureau said. “This is just another in a long line of scams against the public.”
The so-called “hit man scam” came to light last week when a city resident contacted police about an e-mail she received. Saxer said the same message might have been sent to others not only in Pinellas Park, but in other areas of Pinellas County and the state as well.
“In this scam,” Saxer said, “the hit man states that he has been hired by an undisclosed person to kill the recipient.”
The alleged assassin tries to persuade the individual to negotiate a deal that will not only save his or her life, but line the pockets of the “killer” as well.
“The bottom line in this scam is they are trying to get money out of their victims,” Saxer said.
The e-mail is rife with misspellings and punctuation errors. The letter writer says that his work as an assassin is “excellent.”
“I guess he gets annual performance reviews from his bosses, and maybe even a bonus for all his work,” Saxer said sardonically.
The letter begins with the writer disclosing that he is a professional assassin who was hired by someone the victim knows. The assassin claims that he already was partially paid for his contract and that he has been tracking the recipient.
“I have been into this assassin work for seven good years,” the letter says, “and my performance is always excellent as I don’t miss my targets.”
The letter goes on to say that the assassin made contact with his “target” to grant three days to make a financial deal.
“If you want to worsen the case,” the letter states, “go ahead and contact any security agency or your attorney. That will be the worst and greatest undoing, mistake that you will ever make in your life.”
The assassin also warns that contacting the authorities “will be bad for you and also to me.”
The letter is signed Boris Briggs.
Saxer said there are many scams being perpetrated against the public, especially due to these hard economic times. She urged potential victims to ignore e-mails, letters and telephone calls from persons who are trying to get money.
Hit men, she said, don’t usually e-mail their intended victims.
“I would think that a professional assassin would know how to spell ‘assassin’,” Saxer said, noting that the word is misspelled several times in the e-mail. “As least he does have some manners. He wishes you a ‘good day’ at the end of his threat.”
Persons who receive illicit correspondence are urged to contact their local police department.
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Article published on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009
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