Bogus Blackmail Scam Email Demands Payment in Bitcoin
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
Lets get straight to the point. No one has compensated me to check about you. You do not know me and you are probably thinking why you’re getting this e-mail?actually, I installed a software on the X video clips (pornography) site and you know what, you visited this website to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching videos, your web browser began functioning as a Remote control Desktop that has a keylogger which provided me accessibility to your display and also cam. Right after that, my software program collected every one of your contacts from your Messenger, social networks, and e-mail.After that I made a video. 1st part displays the video you were viewing (you’ve got a good taste omg), and second part shows the view of your webcam, yeah it is u.You got two different choices. We are going to take a look at the possibilities in details:First solution is to neglect this message. As a result, I will send your very own video to each one of your contacts and just think concerning the embarrassment you will definitely get. And as a consequence should you be in a romance, precisely how it will affect?In the second place option will be to compensate me $1000. I will name it as a donation. In this situation, I most certainly will right away remove your videotape. You can continue your daily routine like this never took place and you will never hear back again from me.
You’ll make the payment via Bitcoin (if you don’t know this, search for “how to buy bitcoin” in Google search engine).
BTC Address: [Removed]
[case SENSITIVE so copy & paste it]
If you may be planning on going to the cops, well, this email can not be traced back to me. I have covered my moves. I am also not trying to ask you for a whole lot, I want to be compensated. You now have one day in order to make the payment. I’ve a special pixel within this e mail, and at this moment I know that you have read this email message. If I don’t receive the BitCoins, I definitely will send your video to all of your contacts including close relatives, coworkers, etc. Having said that, if I do get paid, I will erase the recording right away. This is a non-negotiable offer, therefore please don’t waste my time & yours by replying to this e mail. If you need proof, reply Yup! & I definitely will send your video recording to your 10 contacts.
What the fact-checkers found
According to this email, the sender installed software on an X-rated website that you visited and was able to make a video of you viewing the material on the site. And, claims the email, the software also collected all of your social media and email contacts.
The sender warns that, if you do not pay $1000 via Bitcoin within one day of opening the email, the compromising video will be sent to all of your contacts.
However, the email is just a scam designed to trick you into sending money to online criminals. The sender does not really have a compromising video of you as claimed.
Despite the claims in the scam message, the email is not specifically targeted at you. Instead, the scammers send out many thousands of identical emails in the hope that at least a few recipients will be panicked into sending the requested payment.
The email does not address you by name. Nor does it mention which particular site you supposedly visited, when the alleged incident took place, which contacts the software has supposedly collected, or any other identifying details. It does not even include a copy of the video.
If criminals intent on blackmail really did have all of this information and really did make the video, they would almost certainly include the video and at least some of the information as a means of proving that their threat was real.
To be sure, criminals can indeed distribute malware that is able to steal information from the infected computer. They may even be able to turn on your computer’s camera and record video without you realizing it.
However, in this case, the blackmail attempt is fake. There are many variants of the fake blackmail scam. If you receive one of these bogus messages, do not respond to it.
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