The person believed to be responsible for a series of threatening e-mails using computers infected by viruses has resurfaced just as the new year was about to begin. The perpetrator sent e-mails to 25 addresses for various Tokyo lawyers and media organizations regarding starting a new game with the authorities.
According to investigative sources, the e-mail, entitled “Happy New Year”, was sent shortly after midnight on Monday with the same e-mail address used to claim responsibility for the string of e-mails containing death threats sent last year. The new e-mail talked about starting a new game and promised to follow-up with a longer e-mail once a puzzle was solved. Attached to the e-mail was a message and a picture explaining that a computer that controls viruses and containing data can be found buried under a hill in a Tokyo suburb. The sender says there is no need to contact authorities immediately as there is no crime or threat being committed this time.
Last year, between June and September, a total of threatening 13 e-mails, which included threats to attack a kindergarten and committing mass murder, were sent from computers being controlled remotely through a virus, leading police to wrongfully arrest the owners of the compromised computers. Around October and November, e-mails were sent to lawyers and news organizations claiming responsibility for the threats and included details that only the real perpetrator could have known.