Police say an email that threatens the death of the recipient is a nasty hoax.
An Otago Daily Times reader forwarded the email to the newspaper yesterday, citing concerns that recipients might take it seriously.
Dunedin police said it was the first report they had received about the unsolicited email, which states that the sender has been hired to kill the recipient, but that the sender will not follow through with the threat if paid a sum of $US6000 ($NZ8300).
Tasmanian police said on Monday the email was a hoax or scam, and inquiries were being conducted as to its source.
They said anyone receiving the email should delete it, advice Detective Des Cull, of Dunedin, agreed with yesterday.
People should not open the message, as it was common for hackers to break into computer systems, gaining access via emails.
Anyone concerned about the email should contact police, Det Cull said.
It was not surprising the email had entered New Zealand servers if it had been circulating in Australia, he said.
The email message claims to be from either cross@killer.com or crosskiller@live.com.
In both instances, the subject line of the email is "You Have 72 Hour [sic] To Respond To This Mail Or Forget It".
