Sending email threats is a federal crime.

How to Handle Email Threats Sending threatening emails or messages through the internet using instant messages or other means, is a federal crime in the United States. Statute 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) states: Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. Intent is beside the point – the act of sending the threatening email is a punishable offense. Learn what to do if you receive emails that threaten you, your family, or your property.

Difficulty: Easy Instructions
Step 1
Always take email threats seriously. These people can mentally unstable, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or other unknown factors may be at play. It is better to take a threat seriously and have no outcome, than to ignore it and find yourself in trouble later.

Step 2
The most important step in handling email threats is to save all of the correspondence from the person (or people) making the threats. These can be used as evidence. Print out the emails, but do not clear the emails from your computer. To an IT specialist, the email itself can provide valuable information about the sender even if sent anonymously. Computer gurus can determine sender’s IP address and location, and other identifying information. The internet offers some anonymity, but tracking technology is improving daily. You aren’t as anonymous as you think on the internet.

Step 3
Contact your local law enforcement agency and provide them with copies of the emails and file an official report. Filing a police report will put your case on record, and in the event anything happens to you, your family, or your property (such as arson or car theft), the police will have this information on file. In other words, if anything happens to you, the police will know where to start looking for the offender.

Step 4
Do not respond to the offender. In most cases, if you ignore them, they will just get bored and go away. Responding, or engaging in email conversation gives the offender power and fuels his fire. Do not threaten him in return.

Step 5
Do not block his email address. You want to be able to receive the emails and keep them as evidence. But remember, do not respond. Calmly file the emails away and continue to build your case.

Step 6
If threats come to you via a third party site’s internal messaging system, such as Facebook or Twitter, save the message and contact the security department of the site. These types of messages can work in your favor since the third party site will also be able to access them.

Step 7
If the threats continue to escalate, and you know who is making the threats, contact an attorney specializing in criminal law. As stated above, sending threatening emails is a criminal offense that carries a penalty of a fine, imprisonment, or both.

Step 8
See the resources section below for more help in dealing with people who send you threatening emails.
Read more: How to Handle Email Threats | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5061920_handle-email-threats.html#ixzz0vVqVnRnV