I think it is good to bring these kinds of scams to the attention of the Steemit community. It looks to me like they are targeting power users. The motive is to steal money. There is a small clue that this is a hoax. The scammer is using a gmail address. We have to be skeptical of all such communications and think twice before replying.
It is very generous of you to use your own money to help defend people in the same forum. How much is this costing you? (I guess it depends on the number of scam messages being sent).
Scammer stopped his exploit when he s noticed counter-strike, so it din't cost too much
Up to now, sent 846 warnings ... affordable ;)