got somewhat of a criminal(?) threat via email today - should I do anything?

[mrbigstuff]

modelamac wrote:
Even if you get nowhere by reporting it, you still should report it. It becomes a record. Eventually the person will get caught, and this will help convict them.

+1

This is exactly what I was going to write. I would not worry about harm to your person, as others have noted, but it's good for the authorities to have a record to convict (if possible) this person on the chance that they decide to act on their stupidity.

[RAMd®d]

Even if you get nowhere by reporting it, you still should report it. It becomes a record. Eventually the person will get caught, and this will help convict them.

My mistake.

I didn't realize that he had the name and address of this scammer, and that he was local.

Good luck.

[RAMd®d]

...it's a foregone conclusion that this guy has been banned from LEM, under the username in question, yes?

[clay]

RAMd®d wrote:
Even if you get nowhere by reporting it, you still should report it. It becomes a record. Eventually the person will get caught, and this will help convict them.

My mistake.

I didn't realize that he had the name and address of this scammer, and that he was local.

Good luck.

I have what appears to be a PO box of some sort somewhere in L.A., I believe. I filed a mail fraud claim online with the US Postal Inspection Service using that address.

Scammer is not local to me--I'm in Virginia, the only address I have for said scammer is in California.

This user has been banned again from LEM (previously banned under other aliases).

I'm not really worried for my safety at this point, and am not even sure what good filing a police report will do either, given the somewhat murky/unknown nature of this guy's whereabouts and the fact that he's not local.

[RAMd®d]

I filed a mail fraud claim online with the US Postal Inspection Service using that address.

A sensible move that a lot of people don't bother with. I don't know how far that will get you, but I'm sure if it goes nowhere it's farther then you'd get with the threat.

Please keep us informed about what the Inspection Service does.

[michaelb]

We can't really do safety planning for you, but you are saying you don't think this is really a threat. I can't think of what the police would do either, and filing a "report" with the police really has no signficance that I can think of here: if you feared for your safety, and had reason to do so, then certanly report it. Edited to say: keep this email for at least two years since it is its own record of the threat.

I would not reply or contact him again in any way. If he contacts you again, or contacted you in a threatening way before, than this can be considered "stalking" since it is two or more events. Virginia has a civil stalking law it appears, although it is not very good; it is also a crime in VA. There are also federal laws implicated here. I can't tell if you could get an antistalking restraining order for example.

So, if anything happens more to make you afraid, contact the police, and talk to a lawyer about your options.

[space-time]

AAA wrote:
imo, yes, involve the needed authorities on every threat. Do it as a service to help prevent that person from doing it to someone else.

I was the victim of something recently and it was already successfully prosecuted. Nothing major, but the way I see it is NOW the guy has a criminal record, and the next time will think twice or hopefully just repent his ways, and at least he will have a prior record for the next victim to hopefully press charges and get a conviction. I had to call the prosecutor everyday to get them to do it. But I feel it was worth it. No one should get away with criminal behavior.

I though you always had a gun on you? didn't you post some pictures of a pair of jeans where no one could see that you had a gun in your pocket? Maybe I confuse you with someone else...

[Speedy]

If you posted in the "'Friendly' Political Ranting" forum you'd get a couple of these a day. Just ignore it.

[RgrF]

Seems you've managed to change LEMs feedback policy. This email just in:

Dan Knight, LowEndMac.com
to Swap

show details 10:20 AM (23 minutes ago)

In an effort to keep threatening messages off the list and to give
group managers a heads up before messages are posted, I have changed
Swap Feedback to a moderated list. No matter who you are or how long
you've been on the list, all postings will be moderated.

Thank you for your understanding,
Dan Knight, LowEndMac.com

[clay]

RgrF wrote:
Seems you've managed to change LEMs feedback policy. This email just in:

Dan Knight, LowEndMac.com
to Swap

show details 10:20 AM (23 minutes ago)

In an effort to keep threatening messages off the list and to give
group managers a heads up before messages are posted, I have changed
Swap Feedback to a moderated list. No matter who you are or how long
you've been on the list, all postings will be moderated.

Thank you for your understanding,
Dan Knight, LowEndMac.com

Could be, but this wouldn't have stopped the scammer in question from emailing me. He just "replied to sender" instead of "replying to list". I guess this prevents the "reply to list" threats, but not the personalized messages, like the one I received.