Police are warning the public about what they describe as a 鈥渉it man鈥� scam.

Prince George RCMP say the fraud scheme involves victims who receive texts or emails with threatening messages saying the sender is being sent to kill them.

Police say the sender then offers to cancel the would-be 鈥渃ontract鈥� on their life in exchange for a large sum of money and requests the funds in cryptocurrency.

Cpl. Jennifer Cooper says in a statement that the messages can be alarming, but it鈥檚 important to remember that the scam is designed to instil a sense of urgency.

She says there is no guarantee that sending money once will stop the demands.

The Mounties say criminals often find personal information about their victims by searching online, and they鈥檙e encouraging people to review their publicly available details, then change their privacy settings.