A new e-mail scam in Winnipeg asks receivers for money — but not in exchange for the usual lures of lottery prizes or holidays.

Instead, the e-mail is an extortion attempt that threatens receivers' lives, say police.

A Winnipeg woman received an e-mail from a person who said he had been hired to kill her and would make good on the threat unless the woman paid an amount of money, police said. 

"They equal it to a kind of contract or a hit — that type of terminology is used — and there's also a reference not to contact police. There's threats that 'We'll know if you contact police,'" Const. Jacqueline Chaput said Wednesday.

"They never specify an amount of money, they just intimate that if you're willing to pay them — because they've already been paid by this person who allegedly wants to hurt you — if you want to pay them, that they won't do it."

Chaput described the threat as "bogus and unfounded," saying the e-mail is a blanket scam and does not actually threaten anyone in particular.

The e-mails have appeared in other jurisdictions, but this is the first time one has been reported to Winnipeg police, she said.

Anyone who receives such an e-mail should contact police immediately, Chaput said.