NSW and South Australia had a bit of a shock this Morning

[Sionyn]

What a Vile Scam

Many Aussies across New South Wales and South Australia had a bit of a shock this morning when they received an SMS threatening them with assassination. Although somewhat varied, the messages have typically read, 'Someone paid me to kill you. If you want me to spare you, I'll give you two days to pay $5000. If you inform the police or anybody, you will die, I am monitoring you', Police and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission have warned that the messages are almost certainly fake, and that no dialogue should be entered into with scammers."

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/killthreat-sms-a-fake-authorities-say-20120723-22j6g.html

[tom66]

Nasty. But I wonder if it is more intended as a (horrible) prank on a lot of people, rather than a scam. Hmm...

[SeanB]

I get the milder form of " you have won in the UK vodacare lottery. Please call Mr Joe Moer on <random not same network cell number> and quote ref xyz123 to claim your prize." sent from anoyther carrier's network.

[bullet308]

I got one of those once. I found it non-amusing and  I let the FBI hold it. I resisted the temptation to give him my address and dare his ass to show up.

[EEVblog]

And if you made the mistake of emailing them, they then have your IP and can easily pinpoint the nearest suburb where you live. So the next message will likely be "I know your address in Blah Blah, if you don't pay I'm coming to get you."
Thus escalating the (still bogus) threat in the mind of the victim.
They'll eventually get a few who will bite. And then once you pay, they no doubt hit you again with another amount.

Dave.

[amyk]

And if you made the mistake of emailing them, they then have your IP and can easily pinpoint the nearest suburb where you live. So the next message will likely be "I know your address in Blah Blah, if you don't pay I'm coming to get you."
Thus escalating the (still bogus) threat in the mind of the victim.
They'll eventually get a few who will bite. And then once you pay, they no doubt hit you again with another amount.

Dave.

That also immediately suggests using proxies to send them on a wild goose chase in the wrong directions. I believe the term for this is "scam-baiting".

[tom66]

419eater.com is great for this, and scam baiting is a lot of fun. Especially when you get them to do stupid things to waste their time so they cannot scam others.

[T4P]

And if you made the mistake of emailing them, they then have your IP and can easily pinpoint the nearest suburb where you live. So the next message will likely be "I know your address in Blah Blah, if you don't pay I'm coming to get you."
Thus escalating the (still bogus) threat in the mind of the victim.
They'll eventually get a few who will bite. And then once you pay, they no doubt hit you again with another amount.

Dave.

That also immediately suggests using proxies to send them on a wild goose chase in the wrong directions. I believe the term for this is "scam-baiting".