Police in Fairfield County are warning residents about a blackmail scam in which someone threatens to know a secret about the recipient and demands payment to avoid that information and evidence of it from being sent to the person’s wife.
Police in Darien and New Canaan have issued a warning after letters were sent in which the sender claims to know a secret the recipient is hiding from the wife and demands thousands of dollars in bitcoins to keep quite.
"I know about the secret you are keeping from your wife. More importantly, I have evidence of what you are hiding," the letter says, according to police.
The sender then gives the recipient two options:
One is to pay the $3,500 in digital currency.
The other is to ignore the letter, which would result in the "evidence" being sent to the recipient's wife and her family and friends.
The recipient's name appears in several places in the letter, which give the appearance that the threat is authentic, police said, but it is a scam and they urge anyone who receives the letter to report it to authorities.
If you received one of the letters, do not send money. The funds cannot be traced or recovered, police warn.
The letters have gone out in several Connecticut towns, as well as Massachusetts.
