If you use e-mail even a little bit, you’ve probably received at least one piece of mail trying to scam you. 

The notes often say someone in another country has died and offer to share millions of dollars with you.

But e-mail scams are taking a disturbing turn.

On the information superhighway, we’re all connected, webbed together so tightly, the line between safety and danger can be blurry.  All that togetherness can sometimes turn a ride on the superhighway into a super-detour.

E-mail scams offering the chance to get rich quick have been seducing people for years.

But the latest version tries a disturbing new con, preying on fear instead of fascination. 

The new version is a death threat.

“This plays on … fear and a little bit of … a romantic notion that you are worthy of being assassinated,” said Tod Beardsley, who looks for dangers on the internet for Tippingpoint, an Austin-based company that designs and develops intrusion prevention systems for businesses and government agencies.

The FBI says it’s received more than a hundred complaints nationwide about the extortion e-mail, which appears to target wealthy executives, doctors and university officials, and is now making its way around Austin.

The writer says he will kill you unless you pay him thousands of dollars.  Then, he says, he’ll hand over a tape and let you prosecute the person who hired him to kill you.

“I don't think most people would fall for it, but … the thing about these e-mail based scams and cons is that they don't need most people to fall for it, they just need one,” said Beardsley.

Austin Police Detective James Mason says there is danger in the e-mail, but not that of life or death.  Instead, it’s a threat to your pocketbook.

“It's like casting the bait out there, and if they get a bite, they're going to send another e-mail and make it more threatening and make it more real,” he said.

The FBI says one person who responded to the scam got an ultimatum in return, containing personal details such as his work address, marital status and daughter’s full name.

Seniors who are new to computers are among those particularly vulnerable to e-mail scams.  In fact, teacher Gary Wood warns students about them early on.

“There's danger just opening the e-mail,” he said.  “The process of opening it may install a keystroke logger that would track what your account numbers would be and your passwords.”

There’s not much the FBI can do because the threat comes from overseas.  If it lands in your inbox, just remember one word:  delete.

“Absolutely, don't respond to it,” advises Beardsley.  There's like three safety rules:  don't run with scissors, don't touch a hot stove and don't respond to unsolicited email.”

It turns out the best away around this alarming detour on the superhighway may be to forget you ever saw it.