卡尔加里警方在希尔赫斯特火灾被视为纵火后寻求信息，与比特币诈骗有关

警方现向 Hillhurst、Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill 和 West Hillhurst 社区的居民询问可能对他们有帮助的闭路电视录像

Calgary police are investigating a suspicious fire in Hillhurst that they believe may be connected to a frightening Bitcoin scam.

卡尔加里警方正在调查希尔赫斯特发生的可疑火灾，他们认为这可能与可怕的比特币骗局有关。

On Tuesday, Nov. 19, at around 3:10 a.m., police and fire crews were called to a home in the 1700 block of Eighth Avenue N.W. that was on fire.

11 月 19 日星期二凌晨 3 点 10 分左右，警察和消防人员被召集到西北第八大道 1700 街区的一处着火房屋。

Fire crews quickly extinguished the fire and no one was injured. The damage to the home appeared to be minimal in what police are describing as a "completely random" incident.

消防人员很快将火扑灭，没有造成人员受伤。警方称这起事件是“完全随机”的，对房屋的损害似乎很小。

Further investigation revealed that a number of residents from surrounding properties in the area said they received threatening letters asking for bitcoin transfers that were left on the front steps of their homes.

进一步调查显示，该地区周边房产的一些居民表示，他们收到了留在自家门前台阶上的威胁信，要求转账比特币。

Sgt. Kurt Jacobs with the Calgary police's arson and robbery unit said the hunt for a suspect, or suspects, is still ongoing and that the notes are believed to be connected to this incident.

中士。卡尔加里警方纵火和抢劫部门的库尔特·雅各布斯表示，对一名或多名嫌疑人的追捕仍在进行中，这些笔记据信与这起事件有关。

“There was no direct threat to the people living in this house, but definitely indications that these people were wanting money and they're wanting people to follow their directions,” he said.

“住在这所房子里的人没有受到直接威胁，但明确表明这些人想要钱，他们希望人们听从他们的指示，”他说。

“We also believe that the arson or fire set would be a way for them to show some type of repercussions if someone doesn't follow though, but that's not directly laid out in these particular letters."

“我们还相信，如果有人不遵守，纵火或放火将是他们表现出某种后果的一种方式，但这并没有直接在这些特定的信件中列出。”

Police are now asking residents of the neighbourhoods of Hillhurst, Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill and West Hillhurst for CCTV footage that might help them identify who dropped off the letters.

警方现在正在向 Hillhurst、Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill 和 West Hillhurst 社区的居民询问闭路电视录像，这可能有助于他们识别是谁投递了这些信件。

One of the notes obtained by CTV News reads “YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PAY $1400 TO THE BITCOIN ADDRESS ABOVE” followed by the words “DO NOT NOT PAY.”

CTV News 获得的一张纸条上写着“您需要向上述比特币地址支付 1400 美元”，后面是“请勿支付”字样。

Nearby resident Beverley Young and her family received a note.

附近的居民贝弗利·杨（Beverley Young）和她的家人收到了一张纸条。

“It was kind of weird, it just didn’t seem real so at first we shrugged it off but then my husband noticed that several other notes had been left on our neighbour’s porches too,” Young said.

“这有点奇怪，它看起来不太真实，所以一开始我们耸了耸肩，但后来我丈夫注意到我们邻居的门廊上也留下了其他几张纸条，”杨说。

“So right now we’re just trying to be aware of vehicles and people that you normally don’t see on this street and to communicate with our neighbours to be on the alert.”

“所以现在我们只是想了解这条街上通常看不到的车辆和行人，并与邻居沟通以保持警惕。”

Others like Colette Baser were also concerned by the news, adding that her family is keeping a watchful eye for anyone placing strange flags on homes or acting suspiciously in the area.

科莱特·巴塞尔等人也对这一消息感到担忧，并补充说，她的家人正在密切关注任何在房屋上悬挂奇怪旗帜或在该地区做出可疑行为的人。

“It really makes me curious to know what puts somebody in a situation where they’re willing to put a note on somebody's door and request bitcoin, and it's usually desperation,” said Baser.

“这真的让我很好奇，想知道是什么让人们愿意在某人的门上贴一张纸条并索取比特币，而这通常是绝望的，”巴瑟说。

“So what is happening within the situation, within our political climate? What is happening, you know, in terms of housing, food prices, what is creating somebody to be in such a desperate situation to do that? To me, that is the root question honestly.”

“那么在这种情况下，在我们的政治气氛中正在发生什么？你知道，在住房、食品价格方面正在发生什么，是什么让人们处于如此绝望的境地这样做？对我来说，老实说，这是根本问题。”

Police said that similar fires are believed to have been set in Edmonton in September and October, and they are investigating whether the incidents are related.

警方表示，据信埃德蒙顿九月和十月曾发生过类似火灾，他们正在调查这些事件是否相关。

Dan Jones, a former Edmonton police officer for 25 years and current Chair of the Justice Studies Program at Norquest College, said the motivation in these crimes is to obtain ‘realistic’ amounts of cash from vulnerable residents.

曾担任埃德蒙顿警官 25 年、现任诺奎斯特学院司法研究项目主席的丹·琼斯 (Dan Jones) 表示，这些犯罪的动机是从弱势居民那里获取“现实”数额的现金。

"I think what’s interesting is the amount of money that they're asking for isn't excessive, right? They're not saying, 'I would like to burn down your house if you don't give me $100,000,' they're asking for between $1,000 and $5,000 on these things,” Jones said.

“我认为有趣的是，他们要的钱并不过分，对吧？他们并没有说，‘如果你不给我 10 万美元，我就想烧毁你的房子，’他们”这些东西要价 1,000 到 5,000 美元，”琼斯说。

“That’s more of a reachable amount for most people, so they're realistic in their expectations, but it also seems that they're realistic in their threats, which is pretty scary,”

“对于大多数人来说，这个数额是可以达到的，所以他们的期望是现实的，但他们的威胁似乎也是现实的，这非常可怕，”

Jones added that there could be an organized crime connection to these incidents that will have to be investigated.

琼斯补充说，这些事件可能与有组织犯罪有关，必须进行调查。

“The Bitcoin thing is also confusing for me, because how does the person know which person from which house transfers the Bitcoin?

“比特币的事情也让我感到困惑，因为人们如何知道哪个人从哪个房子转移了比特币？

“How do you know which house to not burn? That’s the part that I'm concerned with: are they burning one random house and then making people believe it's going to happen to them?"

“你怎么知道哪栋房子不应该被烧？这就是我关心的部分：他们是否随机烧毁了一所房子，然后让人们相信这会发生在他们身上？”

Anyone with information or video footage of people or vehicles in the area surrounding the 1700 block of Eighth Ave. N.W. on Tuesday, Nov. 19 between 1 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. is asked to contact police at 403-266-1234.

任何人如有 11 月 19 日星期二凌晨 1 点至 4:30 期间在第八大道西北 1700 街区周围地区出现人员或车辆的信息或视频，请致电 403-266-1234 与警方联系。

Those wishing to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, online or by downloading the P3 Tips app.

那些希望保持匿名的人可以拨打 1-800-222-8477、在线联系灭罪热线或下载 P3 Tips 应用程序。