Extortion/Sextortion Scams Continue
For the past several months there have been scam emails circulating with actual old passwords you may have used in the past that are trying to extract money from you by attempting to embarrass those that receive it by saying you have visited an adult site and they are going to record you via your webcam or send the data from these sites you “supposedly” visited to every one of your contacts.
The frequency of these emails had died down, but just today 11/14/18 we have a few customers that have received another variation of the same type email. The Subject Line contains your name and then an old password you actually used in the past.
The body of the email goes on to say you are being watched online and that your activity on this adult site/sites are going to be emailed to all of your contacts unless you pay a ransom in the sum of bitcoins to the person that sent the email. They include a link at the bottom or a code for the Bitcoin for you to use to send payment.
This is a total scam, and it appears they are using old “hacked” data from somewhere in the past with one of your actual usernames and passwords to scare you into sending them money.
Key Takeaways:
- This is a scam, and the email should be deleted
- Do not click on any links or open any documents that may be attached to the email
- Do Not, I repeat, DO NOT SEND THEM MONEY!!!!
- If you happen to still be using the password they supply in the email, make sure you update that account/password as soon as possible.
- It is always a good practice to update or change your password often
- Always use good strong passwords or password phrases – welcome1, password, thisismypassword are not good examples
I am going to paste in the body of the email our customer received to give you an example. If you have any questions or would like to know more about the services we offer please give us a call – 205-423-6943 or email – chadsizemore@icscybermgmt.com
I am well aware xxxxxxxx one of your passphrases. Lets get right to the point. No person has compensated me to investigate you. You do not know me and you are probably thinking why you are getting this e mail?
Well, i placed a software on the xxx videos (sexually graphic) web-site and there’s more, you visited this website to experience fun (you know what i mean). When you were viewing video clips, your web browser started functioning as a RDP with a keylogger which provided me with access to your screen as well as web camera. immediately after that, my software obtained your complete contacts from your Messenger, FB, and emailaccount. and then i made a double-screen video. 1st part shows the video you were viewing (you have a good taste hehe), and next part shows the view of your cam, yeah its you.
There are two different solutions. We will go through the solutions in particulars:
First choice is to neglect this e mail. as a result, i most certainly will send your actual recorded material to every one of your personal contacts and just consider regarding the shame you will definitely get. Moreover should you be in a romantic relationship, exactly how it will eventually affect?
Number 2 solution would be to compensate me 7000 USD. Lets think of it as a donation. in this scenario, i most certainly will quickly discard your video recording. You could continue on with your daily life like this never occurred and you will never hear back again from me.
You will make the payment via Bitcoin (if you don’t know this, search ‘how to buy bitcoin’ in Google search engine).
BTC address to send to: 1PVin6QCwPhptGxiwPdTBgC9evpsBsvK7i
[case-SeNSiTiVe so copy & paste it]
if you may be thinking of going to the cops, surely, this e mail can not be traced back to me. I have taken care of my actions. i am just not looking to charge a fee a whole lot, i would like to be rewarded. i have a specific pixel within this e mail, and right now i know that you have read this mail. You now have one day in order to make the payment. if i do not receive the BitCoins, i will certainly send out your video to all of your contacts including family members, co-workers, and so on. Nevertheless, if i do get paid, i’ll erase the video immediately. This is the non:negotiable offer therefore please do not waste mine time and yours by replying to this e-mail. if you want proof, reply Yes! & i will certainly send your video to your 7 contacts.