How do I deal with a death threat I received in error?
April 17, 2009 8:00 AM Subscribe
I received a FB message from someone I don't know who is a member of the US military. The message contained a death threat he wanted me to pass on to someone else, also unknown to me. Who, besides Facebook, should I contact about this?
Weird, I got a FB message yesterday from someone who I definitely don't know, claiming how much they missed me, and my friendship. Responding, however, would give them access to my profile for a month (or so Facebook says). I just pressed delete, assuming it was FB spam.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:13 AM on April 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:13 AM on April 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
I think just Facebook. Unless you have more information than what you've indicated here, you wouldn't know what police to call in what state. Forward it to the Facebook admins, delete, and ignore.
posted by Miko at 8:16 AM on April 17, 2009
posted by Miko at 8:16 AM on April 17, 2009
This is probably spam. Even if it isn't, I can't think of anything you can do about this beyond informing Facebook. The cops would ignore it, as would the military, as would the target of the threat (unless he sees you as a co-conspirator). Just tell Facebook, unless something further happens.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:17 AM on April 17, 2009
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:17 AM on April 17, 2009
E-mail the Army's Criminal Investigation Division at: crimetips@conus.army.mil.
They will pass it on if it is not from someone in the Army. Making such a threat is a crime.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:33 AM on April 17, 2009 [12 favorites]
They will pass it on if it is not from someone in the Army. Making such a threat is a crime.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:33 AM on April 17, 2009 [12 favorites]
My guess is that the target probably banned the sender, and so the sender is trying to pass it along by finding someone unaffiliated.
Because really it sounds too weird to be spam. But I don't understand the russian crawlers on livejournal (they don't get ad revenue, they're not asking for money. What do they get out of it?? Potentially your emo secrets??). So maybe I just don't understand the new generation of spam.
posted by politikitty at 8:49 AM on April 17, 2009
Because really it sounds too weird to be spam. But I don't understand the russian crawlers on livejournal (they don't get ad revenue, they're not asking for money. What do they get out of it?? Potentially your emo secrets??). So maybe I just don't understand the new generation of spam.
posted by politikitty at 8:49 AM on April 17, 2009
If you have some way of contacting the threatened individual (if the threat includes more than just a name or something), I would feel obliged to tell that person -- they may have additional information that they would want to contact the appropriate authorities about.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:52 AM on April 17, 2009
posted by Rock Steady at 8:52 AM on April 17, 2009
I think contacting Facebook is enough. If it's a spam thing, they've probably seen it before, and if it's an actual threat, they've dealt with this sort of thing before.
I would leave Facebook to contact the person the threat was supposed to be passed on to. When it comes to something like criminal threats, you want to stay as uninvolved as possible. No contact means no potential for a misunderstanding.
posted by giraffe at 9:05 AM on April 17, 2009
I would leave Facebook to contact the person the threat was supposed to be passed on to. When it comes to something like criminal threats, you want to stay as uninvolved as possible. No contact means no potential for a misunderstanding.
posted by giraffe at 9:05 AM on April 17, 2009
Contact the police or the Army at the address Ironmouth mentioned. If it appears to be a serious threat, I wouldn't trust facebook to deal with it promptly or well.
The idea that the police "won't do anything" when informed of a credible death threat is just bizarre.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:19 AM on April 17, 2009
The idea that the police "won't do anything" when informed of a credible death threat is just bizarre.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:19 AM on April 17, 2009
Also, keep in mind that you are not in a position to tell if this is real or not. Whoever is doing this needs to be prosecuted.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:40 AM on April 17, 2009
posted by Ironmouth at 9:40 AM on April 17, 2009
Because really it sounds too weird to be spam.
...and asking someone to 'pass on' a death threat doesn't sound weird?
posted by missmagenta at 9:43 AM on April 17, 2009
...and asking someone to 'pass on' a death threat doesn't sound weird?
posted by missmagenta at 9:43 AM on April 17, 2009
If someone had sent a specific death threat my way via a stranger, I'd hope the stranger would let me know. On the off chance it's legit, you might be saving their life.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:59 AM on April 17, 2009
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:59 AM on April 17, 2009
I would contact the military, since I can't imagine Facebook doing much of anything about this. Also, that is really random.
posted by chunking express at 10:03 AM on April 17, 2009
posted by chunking express at 10:03 AM on April 17, 2009
If someone had sent a specific death threat my way via a stranger, I'd hope the stranger would let me know. On the off chance it's legit, you might be saving their life.
Seconded. On the off chance that this is legit, please let the person know so they can contact their local police dept., etc. This man (?) may already be well known to them and if so, they need to know he's gone off the rails, off his medication, whatever, again so they can take protective measures.
posted by availablelight at 10:20 AM on April 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
Seconded. On the off chance that this is legit, please let the person know so they can contact their local police dept., etc. This man (?) may already be well known to them and if so, they need to know he's gone off the rails, off his medication, whatever, again so they can take protective measures.
posted by availablelight at 10:20 AM on April 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
People have been known to hack into other people's accounts and send emails from that account. Forwarding it to the military is dumb and can escalate vandalism to getting the wrong person in serious trouble. Forward it to Facebook and they can more easily trace the IP to find the real culprit. Otherwise they can forward it to the proper authorities.
posted by JJ86 at 10:39 AM on April 17, 2009
posted by JJ86 at 10:39 AM on April 17, 2009
Are you certain that this individual is actually in the military? How do you know?
posted by lullaby at 11:00 AM on April 17, 2009
posted by lullaby at 11:00 AM on April 17, 2009
...and asking someone to 'pass on' a death threat doesn't sound weird?
Of course it sounds weird. But people do freaking bizarre stuff all the time.
Spam seems to imply that someone thinks they can get a buck off of a fake death threat. That possibility seems even more remote to me.
posted by politikitty at 11:06 AM on April 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Of course it sounds weird. But people do freaking bizarre stuff all the time.
Spam seems to imply that someone thinks they can get a buck off of a fake death threat. That possibility seems even more remote to me.
posted by politikitty at 11:06 AM on April 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Do a quick google search for some of the phrases in the message - if it is spam of some sort it may come up in the search (i.e. the same message sent multiple times)..
posted by davey_darling at 12:38 PM on April 17, 2009
posted by davey_darling at 12:38 PM on April 17, 2009
Apparently at least one person has gone to jail for sending death threats on Facebook.
posted by limeonaire at 1:56 PM on April 17, 2009
posted by limeonaire at 1:56 PM on April 17, 2009
Response by poster: I'm not absolutely positive that the person is in the military, but their profile indicates that they are. As for contacting the person who is the target, he assumed I knew who he was talking about and didn't specifically state the person's name. I am going to forward it to the military address, though. Thanks, Ironmouth, for sharing the address. I understand that this might be some kind of weird spam, but I'd rather err on the side of helping a potential victim. If it's not this guy's fault, he should know that someone's hijacking his account.
posted by ausernamenooneelsehas at 2:45 PM on April 17, 2009
posted by ausernamenooneelsehas at 2:45 PM on April 17, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ausernamenooneelsehas at 8:04 AM on April 17, 2009