Many of us are aware of the fact that phishing scams can pop up in our email box looking to dupe us out of our personal information, so they are easier to identify and simply delete. But when that email threatens you or your loved ones, it's cause for more concern.

"You stole the money from my grandfather, and I will have you arrested for this."

Jessica Burns got a real shock when she opened this email sent to her eBay account.

It looked like any other message from an eBay member, but this message was like none Jessica had ever received.

"I have your name and address, why should I bother going to the police when I come to your home and kill your a**."

And the message went on, warning Jessica that she'd better respond, and do it quick.

"If you don't respond to me so we can settle this problem I will come after you within the next 48 hours...contact me or else."

The FBI says it's the latest trend among identity thieves: cyber-threats.

"They want to scare that person to respond to them, whether that's to get her personal information, whether that's to download a virus onto her computer, whether that's to put a program onto her computer so they can follow her keystrokes. It all surrounds identity theft," says an FBI spokesperson.

Jessica knew better than to give out any personal information, but she did open the email and quickly learned that even that was a mistake.

"I always knew never give them any account information, but I never knew that just by opening the e-mail I would expose my computer to all these viruses, which obviously I learned the hard way when I saw all these trojan viruses popping up, and I had 29 viruses on my computer," she says.

The email sent Jessica to a website affiliated with the Blue Knights which is an international police motorcycle club, but the FBI says its not uncommon for these cyberthieves to attach themselves to sites and have nothing at all to do with the organization.

"A lot of this we're seeing that these criminals are from overseas. A lot of these phishing sites and a lot of these unsolicited emails are coming from foreign countries."

Jessica believes she was targeted because she uses eBay so much for her job at the Mudbrook Golf Center in Huron. They sell new and used golf clubs online.

While she saw through the scam, she worries many people may be just scared enough to respond.

"Yeah, I was angry. That's the whole reason I wanted to so something about it. It infuriates me that people could do something like that."

If you get one, authorities say don't open it. Report it to the FBI and your local police. Remember, they say, it is all a tactic designed to get your personal information. If they succeed, what started as a scary situation could turn into a real nightmare.

Source: http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=114572