Massachusetts police warn of threatening scam using pictures of homes

NEEDHAM – Police in several Massachusetts communities are warning about a threatening scam where some victims have lost thousands of dollars.

Investigators say in the scam, crooks send people an email with a picture of their house, address, phone number and a threatening message, demanding money.

Scammers sent Kristen Ward the unsettling email last week.

“I really felt terrified”  

“I really felt terrified, like here’s a picture of my home, my cellphone and my first name and the person keeps addressing me by my first name, like do I have a stalker? Is someone watching me?” said Ward.

The scammers claimed to have compromising videos and pictures they got remotely, then they demanded her to pay up $2,000 through a crypto currency QR code, or they’d send the so-called videos to all her contacts.

It clicked to Ward it was a scam, plus the scammers used an older picture of her house before it was painted.

“I’m a mom in my 40s with three middle schoolers so I knew that I didn’t have any footage to share that’s all that exciting to my contacts other than reading a good book ha-ha,” said Ward.

Scam reported in 5 towns

So far police say the scam complaints have been coming from Needham, Foxboro, Marion, Sandwich, and Sharon.

Police and veteran cyber security experts say the scammers are likely overseas, using information that’s already out there so it’s smart to stay on top of your privacy settings.

“They’re trying to scare you into thinking they know all sorts of stuff about you but instead they’re using publicly available information, like pictures of your home from Google Street View or maybe one of your passwords in the past was breached,” said Justin Armstrong president of Armstrong Risk Management. “The recommendation is to ignore, don’t reply, don’t send them money it’s just a scam.”

As a previous scam victim, Kristen wanted to share the word before more people fall victim.

“I fell for a more elaborate scam a number of years ago and it feels awful and personal, and people work hard for their money, and this is no different than breaking into someone’s home and stealing wads of cash,” said Ward. “It just happens to be over email.”

Experts say you can report this scam and others to the FBI at the Internet Crime Center.