One frosty morning, Lewis received a letter stamped "urgent" which he thought was a late bill. Upon opening the letter, he read a very polite, well written note explaining that he "had been caught in the secret he's been keeping from his wife." The writer claimed to "have evidence of what's been hidden" and threatened to send that evidence to Lewis' family and friends if he did not pay the "$15,500 in Bitcoin within 24 hours, as a confidentiality fee, to the following address..." Lewis felt unsettled as he threw the note away. He did not have a wife, nor any nefarious secrets, and he was shocked that it was possible to receive a scam through snail mail at his home address. Later that day, when speaking to his neighbors, he learned that they too received the same scam letter in the mail, along with many other men in the area.
Did you spot the red flags?
- Lewis' letter was intimidating, and used high-pressure tactics such as threats and time constraints, similar to what might be found within an email phishing scam.
- The letter also consisted of Bitcoin Blackmail as a means of extortion.
- Lewis later learned that he was actually one of many involved in this demographically targeted attack.
What you should know about this scam
Snail Mail scams may be less common than other technologically advanced Phishing attempts, but they do still happen. If you receive blackmail or scam-based letters in the mail, report it to your local postal inspection services
Lewis conversed with his neighbors, and ended up learning more about the scam, but you can also search the web for one or two sentences in a letter you think is suspicious to confirm if it is actually a scam.
With Snail Mail scams, though your name and address were likely found through public records, for additional peace of mind, you can always double check for recent data breaches that may have compromised your information.