Blackmail emails

[anothercustom]

It's a very basic scam by chancers. Basically, your email address and password is on a big list being circulated around the web after some website or other you've signed up to has been hacked. The email normally has your password in the title bar to attract your attention. Bottom line: Use strong passwords, don't use the same password for different sites, regularly change your passwords and mark any such emails as spam and delete them.

[pharoahegypt]

well, as i hoped. having changed my password, i've not been bothered by them any more since. here's hoping i haven't just jinxed myself. lol.

[JeffSav]

I've had a couple of similar emails, recently, stating that they have compromising videos of me. I waited until I was on my 'second warning', then replied....

'Got you!

After your last email I reported you to the F.B.I. They added an IP detector to my email account. Now you have sent me another email, they have identified your IP address and physical location.

By now they will have looked back at your email record and assessed the scale of your crimes.

You can expect a knock on your door soon. You will go to jail for a long time, for extortion. I don’t know what jurisdiction you are in, but the F.B.I. do. All major countries will assist the F.B.I. with locating you and ensuring that you end up in court.

Good luck with the rest of your life, you pointless scum. You aren’t going to enjoy it much'

I haven't heard anything since. Okay, I'm in the UK, but maybe the FBI warning was enough to deter them.

I think the answer is to play them at their own game, and frighten them back into never emailing you again. I hope this helps.

[buttsie]

A particularly nasty sextortion Bitcoin scam from at least the middle of 2018 is making the rounds once again.

The scam involves making use of old breach dumps , then emailing someone from the list and reminding them of their old password.

1. What is the threat being made?
2. What do they really have?
3. What does the email say?
4. What to do?

Scare tactics: an evil practice

The anonymous sender of these mails doesn’t care about the trauma they could cause at the other end. These missives would be particularly traumatic for anyone involved in (say) a revenge porn case previously.

And make no mistake , generic Internet blackmail threats can kill.
(leads to a locked up PC ransomware story from 2014)

If you’re able to report these mails for spam/abuse before deleting, do so. There’s a remote chance you could actually save someone’s life while making the Internet a little safer into the bargain.

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/cyberc...elcome-return/

[anothercustom]

Originally Posted by JeffSav

I've had a couple of similar emails, recently, stating that they have compromising videos of me. I waited until I was on my 'second warning', then replied...

It's worth noting that these scammers will know that most law enforcement agencies are highly unlikely to investigate a threatening scam email and will only get involved if someone has been scammed and then it will all depend on the scale of the scam and the resources they have available. By replying you're just letting the scammer know that your email address is still active and there's a chance that you'll get an avalanche of spam emails if they add your email address to a spam database or they might start checking around to see if you've used the same email and password combination on other sites i.e. Paypal, Amazon, eBay, etc. Just mark as spam and delete and if you're still using the password quoted in the email on any account, change it ASAP.

[JeffSav]

Originally Posted by anothercustom

It's worth noting that these scammers will know that most law enforcement agencies are highly unlikely to investigate a threatening scam email and will only get involved if someone has been scammed and then it will all depend on the scale of the scam and the resources they have available. By replying you're just letting the scammer know that your email address is still active and there's a chance that you'll get an avalanche of spam emails if they add your email address to a spam database or they might start checking around to see if you've used the same email and password combination on other sites i.e. Paypal, Amazon, eBay, etc. Just mark as spam and delete and if you're still using the password quoted in the email on any account, change it ASAP.

Yes, you're right of course, but they didn't quote a password, so I felt safe in doing what I did. Also, I think that as soon as I open an email on that account, to read it, the sender is informed that it's been opened, so they know it's an active account in any case. I agree that if it's an account I use for anything other than porn sites (not this one), then I wouldn't have taken the risk. Regards.

[leviathan0999]

I get 'em all the time, a recent hilarious one being a threat to release vids of me "choking the chicken" to porn sites. Listen, anybody getting their jollies watching a middle-aged fat guy flogging the dolphin, bless their little hearts, you know?

add me to the list...yeah I thought about fuckin with them, to offer $1,000,000 in cash but it had to be face to face in Central Park...lol

[castle999]

Hi there. I received a blackmail threat 5 days ago saying they had accessed my PC and installed software to record my porn activity, personal contacts and had also captured my internal camera. Went on to say they had a video of me "pleasuring myself", which, to be honest could be true. Also quoted a password which rings true but not sure which site it refers to. The video will be circulated to all my email and facebook contacts if I fail to pay them $1200 via bitcoin within 3 days. You can imagine my utter panic at the family/marital/social nightmare of that! I have unfriended every facebook contact and every email contact has been deleted. I asked Hotmail to change my password I also blocked the sender. The huge worry is that I am still vulnerable. To be honest, I don't think I could live with the embarrassment of such exposure. My peace of mind is ruined at the moment. So, advice please. Am I still at risk? What more can I do? Is the blackmail threat a bluff? Very grateful for some quick advice. Thanks.

[castle999]

Should have added Hotmail makes you wait 30 days to implement a password. Now about to tell my wife we can't use the Hotmail account as we have a "mystery" virus. I feel like crap and wonder where this is going.