But it was all a hoax. North Haven Police are warning people about a vicious scam.
The Police recently took a complaint from a person who had been contacted by an unknown person who claimed to be a member of a drug cartel.
The scammer went on to note personal information about the victim - telephone number, address, date of birth, etc. - before asking for money, police said. If the money was not delivered, the scammers said, then the victim and his family would be killed.
The threat was followed up by graphic and violent images of torture and mutilation.
Police said the personal information the scammer used to attempt to scare the victim is the kind of publicly available details that just about anyone could easily access online. Also, the images that were sent are from various forums and websites - not photos originally staged and taken by the scammer.
The scam is scary, but not a true threat.
“There have been incidents similar to this occurring in numerous states over the last several years,” North Haven police said.
Police said if someone is contacted by this type of scammer, he or she should not engage with the text messages. Save the messages, block the number, and file a police report, police said.
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