Like many other crime warnings, the emailed example here purportedly provides details of a specific “close call” incident, albeit in third-hand fashion with anonymous sourcing.
Claim:
STAY ALERT AND LOOK AROUND. THIS HAPPENED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT AT A VERY PUBLIC PLACE - A POST OFFICE! According to the police - this is happening several times a day in West Omaha. They also said these creeps have tried leaving notes on cars. When you stop to take the note off your windshield and read it - it gives them time to run up on you. Sorry to send this. I know it is scary - but I thought everybody should know. HEADS UP. LET EVERYBODY KNOW ABOUT THIS.
The message is rapidly evolving with the information being changed and passed on. We have witnessed the birth of a new internet urban legend. So far today, it has cost OPD many man-hours, as many people are alarmed.An e-mail warning about possible carjackers that was circulated around Omaha doesn’t appear to be true. Police believe they discovered an incident that may have started the e-mail rumor.
"Carjackings do NOT occur several times a day in west Omaha or the entire city," Bettin wrote in his counter email.