‘Security Notice’ Sextortion Scam Email
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
Subject: Security Notice. Someone have access to your system.
Hi!
As you may have noticed, I sent you an email from your account.
This means that I have full access to your account.I’ve been watching you for a few months now.
The fact is that you were infected with malware through an adult site that you visited.If you are not familiar with this, I will explain.
Trojan Virus gives me full access and control over a computer or other device.
This means that I can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it.I also have access to all your contacts and all your correspondence.
Why your antivirus did not detect malware?
Answer: My malware uses the driver, I update its signatures every 4 hours so that your antivirus is silent.
I made a video showing how you satisfy yourself in the left half of the screen, and in the right half you see the video that you watched.
With one click of the mouse, I can send this video to all your emails and contacts on social networks.
I can also post access to all your e-mail correspondence and messengers that you use.
If you want to prevent this,
transfer the amount of $735 to my bitcoin address (if you do not know how to do this, write to Google: “Buy Bitcoin”).
My bitcoin address (BTC Wallet) is: 1K1KMHpynJHQRbhzKHyik6yaJuQYxSaZCm
After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and you will never hear me again.
I give you 48 hours to pay.
I have a notice reading this letter, and the timer will work when you see this letter.
Filing a complaint somewhere does not make sense because this email cannot be tracked like my bitcoin address.
I do not make any mistakes.
If I find that you have shared this message with someone else, the video will be immediately distributed.
Best regards!
What the fact-checkers found
According to this email, which bills itself as a security notice, the sender installed a “trojan virus” on your computer when you visited an adult website.
Supposedly, the trojan gave the hacker full access and control over your computer, including all of your contacts. He claims that he has recorded a video of you while you satisfied yourself on the adult website. He threatens to send this video to all of your contacts if you do not pay him $735 in Bitcoin within 48 hours.
But, the claims in the email are untrue. The sender has not made a video of you on a porn site, he has not hijacked your computer, and he does not have a list of your contacts. The message is just a bluff designed to panic you into sending money to online criminals.
The scammer has used a simple email spoofing trick to make it appear that the message was sent from your own account.
Fake sextortion scams like this one are common and take many forms. These scammers send many thousands of identical messages to random email addresses in the hope that at least a few recipients will be tricked into sending money.
Some versions use passwords stolen from old data breaches in an effort to make their false claims sound more believable.
If you receive one of these scam emails, do not reply or respond in any way. Just hit the delete key.
Read more reports about fake blackmail scams
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