Threatening emails, containing allegations of your recorded self pleasure sessions, seem to be dropping into our email inboxes more and more frequently. In today’s post i’ll show you an example of one of these emails so you know what to look for if one does happen to make its way into your junk and what to do if you’ve already fallen victim to this popular scam.
Sextortion
Sextortion email scams are just another branch on the phishing tree. Criminals will try to blackmail you in to paying a large amount of bitcoin in order for them to not release videos they say they have recorded of you during your most intimate moments alone via your webcam. The criminals make this seem more legit by filling the email with technical jargon and even your old passwords which may have been leaked in a past security breach! (I’ll show you how to check if your email or password has been compromised at the bottom of this blog post). Unfortunately due to lack of awareness of this scam and the threatening language used, many of us can be intimidated and tricked into believing this is real. Reports have shown that sextortion scams have resulted in more than 500,000 cases worldwide and even suicide (Avast Blog, 2020). Below are some screenshots of a sextortion email that has been circulating the last couple of weeks in the UK:
What do i do if i’m a victim?
Advice taken from the National Cyber Security Centre’s website.
Pictured below is the official advice poster for sextortion scam victims, provided by the National Cyber Security Centre’s website.
How to check if your email or password has been compromised
Head across to this incredible site which will tell you if your email or password have been in a data breach.
Email: https://haveibeenpwned.com/
Password: https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords
Further information
AVAST blog on sextortion: https://blog.avast.com/sextortion-email-scams-avast
Smashing Security Podcast featuring Garry Kasparov. (Listen from 22:12-28:43): https://www.smashingsecurity.com/216
Final thoughts
For many of us, having our nudes leaked or videos of us pleasuring ourselves circulate around the internet, with the chance of our family, friends or employers seeing is horrifying and could have a catastrophic affect on our mental health. I’m sure if I was to receive an email like this a year ago I would be in a state of panic and unsure what action to take. Although we live in a time now when many of our friends are making money via onlyfans or justforfans, no one wants to have leaked images of yourself online without your consent. Luckily most of the attackers who are sending sextortion scam emails are just bluffing and have no access to your webcam or files, however it’s always better to be safe than sorry. I hope this post has highlighted some information which you can now be on the look out for when that strange email drops into your junk mail and hopefully before you make the rash decision of paying some random thousands of pounds in bitcoin!
M.
Barrett Breaking Security 