Redding police are warning residents about a new scam that asks for money in exchange for safety.
This week a Redding resident notified police that they received a letter demanding money in exchange for the safety of one of their family members, police say. The letter said that if money was given through a Bitcoin transaction, their family member would not be killed.
A Bitcoin transaction is an electronic exchange of money and are sent from and to electronic bitcoin wallets, and are digitally signed for security, according to CoinDesk. The history of a transaction can be traced back to the point where the bitcoins were produced.
The letter went on to to say if police were notified, they would act on their threat, police said.
Redding police are trying to identify the owner of the Bitcoin wallet. Anyone who received a similar threat is asked to call the Redding Police Department at (203) 938-3400.