Need non-poker internet scam advice

My father-in-law was doing geneology research this evening and was scanning a webpage (he didn't remember the URL). When he got to the bottom of the page, there was a message that told him his exact name and demanded $20 to tell him how they got his name and were putting the message on that page.



I received an e-mail earlier this week that was similar - we've infected your machine with a virus and we'll tell you how to remove it for $20. Obviously, i wasn't worried about that.



I'm sure his personal data hasn't been compromised because it sounds like they were trying to get him to give up a credit card number - if they already had the CC number, why demand payment, right? Anyway, I was hoping someone could explain to me how they were able to target him so specifically, by name? I want to be able to explain it to him so he'll stop worrying.



Thanks in advance for any assistance.





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