‘Hacking Alert! You account was hacked’ email scam blackmails for Bitcoin
A sextortion email scam sends you a message from your own account that says “Hacking Alert! You account was hacked” and shows you your password.
One of the latest sextortion email scams sends you a message from your own account that says that your account was hacked and they now have full access to your account. The subject of the email message is “Hacking Alert! You account was hacked.” The message says that they have been watching you for a few months and that they “can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it”
The purpose of this email scam is to scare you into paying the scammer a certain amount of Bitcoin. The message claims that they have recorded you through your camera while you were visiting adult websites and if you do not send money to their Bitcoin wallet they will send videos of you that they recorded while you were visiting adult websites to “all your emails and contacts on social networks.” They also threaten to “post access to all your e-mail correspondence and messengers that you use.”
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
To be clear, this is a scam, your account was not hacked, and there are no videos of you. Even if you have never visited an adult website, you will still receive the same exact message. If your device does not have a camera on it, the message will still claim to have recorded you.
Unfortunately, if you received this email or one like it, it means that your information was possibly leaked online following a breach that occurred on websites like LinkedIn or Adobe. Scammers use information leaked about you (such as your email address, email account password, and telephone number) against you in order to attempt to blackmail you.
To locate a breach where your information may have been leaked from check out https://haveibeenpwned.com/. You can input your email address to locate where your information was leaked.
Transcript from email message:
Subject: Hacking Alert! You account was hacked
From: [Your email address]
To: [Your password]Hello!
As you may have noticed, I sent you an email from your account.
This means that I have full access to your account: On moment of hack your account has password: [Your password]You say: this is the old password!
Or: I will change my password at any time!Yes! You’re right!
But the fact is that when you change the password, my trojan always saves a new one!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 $746 to my bitcoin address (if you do not know how to do this, write to Google: “Buy Bitcoin”).
My bitcoin address (BTC Wallet) is: 1PNpAXTo6jh4V9dhXRvimNYqPYjvZEnQiu
After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and you will never hear me again.
I give you 48 hours to pay.
I have a notice reading this letter, and the timer will work when you see this letter.Filing a complaint somewhere does not make sense because this email cannot be tracked like my bitcoin address.
I do not make any mistakes.If I find that you have shared this message with someone else, the video will be immediately distributed.
Best wishes!
Although the email message might sound frightening and seem like a real threat, it’s not. It is a confirmed scam and you have nothing to worry about. The same exact message has been sent to many people and there have been many campaigns like it in the past.
Since this is a scam and you are not in danger, do not pay the scammer. They have not accessed your email account and they have not taken photos or videos of you. The only thing that you need to do is change the password to your email address and other accounts you have to ensure your safety.
- Do not reuse the same password for multiple accounts. Use unique passwords wherever possible.
- Use strong passwords with numbers, letters, and special characters such as !@$#.
- Use two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security along with your password.
- Use a reputable password manager if you have trouble remembering multiple passwords.
If you would like to make sure that your computer is clean, scan your computer for malware and other potentially malicious files using Malwarebytes:
1. Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software to scan your computer and remove malicious files and potentially unwanted programs.
2. To install the program, click the file you just downloaded. It can usually be located in the Download folder.
3. A window that says “Welcome to the Malwarebytes Setup Wizard” will appear. Click Agree and Install to begin the installation. Once complete, click Finish.
4. Now the Malwarebytes is installed, open the program and click the Scan Now button – or go to the Scan tab and click the Start Scan button.
3. When the scan is complete click the Quarantine Selected button.
4. If Malwarebytes says “All selected items have been removed successfully. A log file has been saved to the logs folder. Your computer needs to be restarted to complete the removal process. Would you like to restart now?” click the Yes button to restart your computer.