‘This is a scam.’ Coast sheriff says 2 report getting photos of dismembered bodies
Two people received threatening text messages from a person claiming to be the head of a criminal organization and threatening harm if they don’t pay, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said in a press release Monday.
The text messages, received over the last few weeks, show pictures of dismembered bodies and came with the threat “you’re next,” Ezell said.
The texts said the person knew the names and addresses of the dismembered victims and demanded a payment of $5,900.
“Please be aware this is a scam and DO NOT answer the text in an attempt to send money,” Ezell cautioned. He advised residents to block the number on their phones if they receive this kind of message.
The person sending the texts claims to be the head of a criminal organization called the Squadron R8 Cartel De Sinaloa. The Sinaloa Cartel is possibly the largest drug cartel in Mexico, formerly led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán who made international headlines when he tunneled out of a jail cell in 2015. He’s now serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado.
The “Squadron R8” name only appears online in reports of phone scams.
The website findwhocallsyou.com has five recent reports of the text scam, two in October and three in July.
One report includes the full text of the messages, which say they’re from the head of the cartel and accuse the receiver of rejecting “one of my girls.” The messages threaten to kill “an innocent person” and say “you and your (expletive) family are going to die” unless the receiver sends $5,900.
