Crimebusters tackling ‘high-tech hoods’ have issued a warning for businesses in Gosport to watch out for a new form of protection racket.
Police unit Action Fraud said yesterday that it had received several reports in the previous 24 hours from businesses which had been sent online extortion demands from scammers threatening a cyber attack.
The scammers, who call themselves the "RepKiller Team", have been sending emails to businesses across the UK demanding payments of £300 to £500 in Bitcoins by a certain date and time.
If these are not met, the team has threatened to launch a cyber attack against the firms and their reputations in the form of negative reviews online.
The emails also claim that once actions have started, they cannot be un-done. Although these scammers are currently calling themselves "RepKiller", it is common for fraudsters to continually change and adopt new tactics – email names can be made and changed easily.
If anyone receives one of these emails, whether the attack is attempted or successful, they should report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or by using the unit’s online reporting tool.
A spokesman said: "Do not pay the demand. There is no guarantee the scammers won’t launch an attack and could encourage further extortion demands in the future.
"Retain all the original emails. Should law enforcement investigate, the information contained within the email headers can be used as evidence. Maintain a timeline of the attack recording all times, type and content of contact."