Revenge Pr0n Phishing Scam

[BeksNY]

BARF brain trust, I need your help. A colleague just got an email that seems to be a phishing / ransom scan demanding $2900 in bitcoin and threatening to expose images from said colleague's webcam and any pr0n sites visited. (Colleague is adamant that this computer is never ever used for pr0n sites.)

Ordinarily, this is the kind of email that would be deleted immediately (a la the Nigerian prince emails of yore). Buuuut, this one is extra spooky because the sender included my colleague's Amazon password and name.

Any insights on the validity of this and what to do? How to report, etc.?

Thanks...

 

[RightCoastBias]

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

Unless your coworker is concerned about webcam/porn info being released and has $2900 to burn. But it's a long shot it's real.

If someone wants to look at the porn I've watched and video of me jerking off, that's their problem.

I'd have them contact IT and make sure they don't have malware on their computer.

 

[daventura]

I got a similar one the other day.

I don't have a webcam.

I deleted it.

:teeth

 

[HappyHighwayman]

If they never respond how can the blackmailer even be sure they received the email? I always wondered what would happen if people just acted as if the threat was never received.

 

[BeksNY]

If they never respond how can the blackmailer even be sure they received the email? I always wondered what would happen if people just acted as if the threat was never received.

Interestingly enough, the blackmailer addressed this with a line in the email saying that there was a pixel tag in the email so that he/she could confirm the email had been opened and read. :dunno

 

[Snaggy]

I got one after the Ashley Madison data leak. I did nothing I’m ashamed of.

 

[mototireguy]

Colleague is adamant that this computer is never ever used for pr0n sites

:laughing

Let he/she who hath not sinned looking at pron cast the first stone.

this one is extra spooky because the sender included my colleague's Amazon password and name.

Change Amazon password, done.

 

[Racinfrk]

I heard a story on the radio (Howard Stern) that someone got this same e-mail and actually paid the "ransom" amount. A couple weeks later they got another e-mail wanting more money. This time the person ignored it. A couple of weeks later, they see on their Facebook page a video with them jerking it to child and gay porn. The person said it made his life hell for awhile. Like I said, this was a story from a caller on the Howard Stern show, so it could of just been a made up.

I also received one of those e-mails here at work and just ignored it since I did nothing (especially at work) nor have a webcam.

 

[Kurosaki]

There's an episode of Black Mirror about that.

 

[sanjuro]

 

[sanjuro]

BTW, what likely has happened is his Amazon account was hacked, who are known to be slow to secure their systems (one of the last of the major internet companies to adopt 2 factor authentication).

Then from the email account that was used for the Amazon username, then the scam was sent.

 

[295566]

 

[Blankpage]

I heard a story on the radio (Howard Stern) that someone got this same e-mail and actually paid the "ransom" amount. A couple weeks later they got another e-mail wanting more money. This time the person ignored it. A couple of weeks later, they see on their Facebook page a video with them jerking it to child and gay porn. The person said it made his life hell for awhile. Like I said, this was a story from a caller on the Howard Stern show, so it could of just been a made up.

I also received one of those e-mails here at work and just ignored it since I did nothing (especially at work) nor have a webcam.

Haha I actually heard that one also a couple of weeks ago. I only listen to Howard maybe couple times per week during the commute and that phone in story is all I remember. Crazy if it was true.

 

[jdhu]

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

Unless your coworker is concerned about webcam/porn info being released and has $2900 to burn. But it's a long shot it's real.

If someone wants to look at the porn I've watched and video of me jerking off, that's their problem.

I'd have them contact IT and make sure they don't have malware on their computer.

+1, ignore. Friend got similar threat (extortionist knew his wife's and family member's name, via phone number posted on FB account).

Anyway, what's to stop them from demanding a second payment, etc.? Just ignore.

 

[Junkie]

Interestingly enough, the blackmailer addressed this with a line in the email saying that there was a pixel tag in the email so that he/she could confirm the email had been opened and read. :dunno

I believe most email clients are good about not doing that now

 

[mototireguy]

I believe most email clients are good about not doing that now

+1 most but not all.

If an email has any embedded images Gmail asks if you want to display images before doing so.

By not clicking yes this defeats the 1 pixel image/tag beacon.

 

[justanotherg20]

I heard a story on the radio (Howard Stern) that someone got this same e-mail and actually paid the "ransom" amount. A couple weeks later they got another e-mail wanting more money. This time the person ignored it. A couple of weeks later, they see on their Facebook page a video with them jerking it to child and gay porn. The person said it made his life hell for awhile. Like I said, this was a story from a caller on the Howard Stern show, so it could of just been a made up.

I also received one of those e-mails here at work and just ignored it since I did nothing (especially at work) nor have a webcam.

There's an episode of Black Mirror about that.

Yeah, and like the Black Mirror episode it falters just a bit when you realize even if the webcam video were released, there's no way to show just what the dude was jerking it to. All you'd really have to do in that situation is deny, deny deny. Like, sure, the video of you whacking is a video of you whacking it but who's to say what you were watching? Show the extortion email and say that anonymous dude is lying and you were watching plain ol' regular porn, and the sort of person who hacks into web cams and blackmails someone for money is maybe not the most reliable of narrators.

Also if there were a FB video of someone jerking off to child porn I would think their life would be hell for more than just a little while so I dunno about that Howard Stern caller.

 

[Blankpage]

Doesn't everyone do that by now

 

[HappyHighwayman]

Why does he tape over the side port?

 

[Junkie]

Yeah, and like the Black Mirror episode it falters just a bit when you realize even if the webcam video were released, there's no way to show just what the dude was jerking it to. All you'd really have to do in that situation is deny, deny deny. Like, sure, the video of you whacking is a video of you whacking it but who's to say what you were watching? Show the extortion email and say that anonymous dude is lying and you were watching plain ol' regular porn, and the sort of person who hacks into web cams and blackmails someone for money is maybe not the most reliable of narrators.

Also if there were a FB video of someone jerking off to child porn I would think their life would be hell for more than just a little while so I dunno about that Howard Stern caller.