Do "the authorities" take extorion type email spam seriously - or do they treat (or ignore) it as ordinary spam? There are extortion type spam emails that say "I have pictures of you..." or "I took over you computer and I know that you ...", Send me some bitcoins so I won't tell.
I haven't received any robo-phone calls of the extortion type, but perhaps it's only a matter of time.
Hearing that I inherited a million dollars from the ex-premier of Zwobolliland is so much more fun than being blackmailed.