I was jubilant when Facebook made its debut. It meant that we could easily and quickly communicate with family and friends during that time in life when free time was limited. However, I soon tired of people posting and sending mundane messages like “walked to the Starbucks and got a Grande double shot, half sweet, hazelnut, extra hot, soymilk latte. Delish!” Who cares? Or the “look-at-me photos” of someone tabletop dancing while wearing a lampshade. And for those proudly posting photos of their beautiful children, well you may be contributing to a pedophiles catalogue.

Now I rarely log into the account and have not posted anything for years – until I started getting emails from friends saying that someone hacked my Facebook account. Finally, I posted that I was who I am and that this note was the first time I have posted anything for several years. If any of my “friends” recently received any message purporting to be from me, it was from a hacker. End of story. New story – I am totally removed from social media. Then, I received the first of several emails that started with an ominous warning: “ELAINE HNATYSHYN I know that calling 306555555 or visiting 123 Main Street would be a better way to talk to you in case you don’t cooperate. “Don’t try to hide from this. You have no idea what I’m capable of in Saskatoon. It is important that you pay attention to this message right now. “Take a minute to relax, breathe and really dig into it. We’re talking about something serious here, and I ain’t playing games. You don’t know anything about me, however, I know EVERYTHING about you and you must be thinking how, right?”

What the hell is this? I muttered to myself. Then the letter goes on to say that while I was visiting a porn site, they were able to install malware in my system thus enabling them to access my contacts, accounts, browsing history, as well as getting audio and video access in my home. They did go on about my pathetic existence and the disgusting things that happen in my home. (Was this Siri gone berserk?) But I knew it was a scam when they said “porn site” as I have never gone into a porn site. As for the disgusting activity in my home, well, occasionally someone (not me!) forgets to flush the toilet and that is disgusting. The rest of the letter is intended to humiliate and intimidate the recipient and then it gets down to the extortion. They demanded that I, within 24 hours, deposit $2,000 USD into a bitcoin account or they will flood cyberspace with my embarrassing secrets and disgusting pathetic life for my friends, family, and the rest of the world to see, and life as I know it will be over. There was also a stern warning not to share this email or else!

BTW I have received seven of these same letters to date. I would classify myself as a “vintage” woman with not a lot of tread left on my tires. So, I was surprised with my initial reaction when I started reading the first email and I am embarrassed to admit that I was taken aback. It left a sense that someone was stalking me and definitely wanting me to be afraid for my well-being. It didn’t take much to recover, but then again nothing in my personal life gave me a reason to be afraid of exposure.

However, it made me think about teenagers who get threatening messages and have a reason to be afraid. If you are a parent, you will know about the stupid things teens can do (probably some of the same things you did as a teen). Unlike previous generations, today’s teens live in a digital world and do not quite grasp that one act of folly can follow you for life. One inappropriate photo can lead to another photo just to keep the first one from surfacing and the snowball starts. At some point, the teen just cannot meet the demands and self harm becomes a viable alternative. We also know that the social media billionaires will do nothing to prevent and keep slandering, demeaning and embellished photos and misinformation off their platforms. It makes you wonder why professional journalists who publish misleading or slanderous comments in print media about an individual can be sued for libel, but if you do it on social media it’s okay. What kind of people get caught up in these frauds? I would guess many have a secret indiscretion they do not want exposed, especially if it would have an impact on their family or employment status. And grandparents are an easy mark. In truth, if that letter had implied that a grandchild was at risk, I may have had a panic attack.

Any way you cut this, it is attempted extortion and should be stopped. Each email had a bogus name on it, and each email had a bitcoin account. I called the police station and asked for the fraud division. The woman who answered the phone asked what I was calling about and I told her the story. She advised me to delete the emails and forget about it. That is wrong. They should alert the public to current active frauds.

I do not know how my name got on this mailing list and there is no way to unsubscribe from it. You think they would cross my name off the list as a non-responding recipient. I did amuse myself by printing the first letter and taking a red pen to edit/correct the mangling they did to the mechanics of the English language. If the senders are Canadian, then I am ashamed of this education, or lack thereof, that they received from their schools – which makes me think they must be dumbed down foreigners! Curiously, isn’t Trump stumping for Bitcoin?

ehnatyshyn@gmail.com

– Elaine Hnatyshyn