This account has been hacked! Change your password right now!

If you received an email that says “This account has been hacked! Change your password right now!” you’re not alone. It’s one of the latest sextortion email scam campaigns that’s going around from mailbox to mailbox. The email message appears to be sent from your own email account and the message claims that someone hacked your email account and gained access to your webcam cam. It then says that they recorded you while you were visiting adult websites and that if you do not pay them in Bitcoin they will send the video to all of your contacts including relatives, coworkers, and so on.

This account has been hacked! Change your password right now!
From: [Your Email Address]
To: [Your Email Address]

You may not know me and you are probably wondering why you are getting this e mail, right?

I’m a hacker who cracked your devices a few months ago.

I sent you an email from YOUR hacked account.

I setup a malware on the adult vids (porno) web-site and guess what, you visited this site to have fun (you know what I mean).

While you were watching videos, your internet browser started out functioning as a RDP (Remote Control) having a keylogger which gave me accessibility to your screen and web cam.

after that, my software program obtained all of your contacts and files.

You entered a passwords on the websites you visited, and I intercepted it.

Of course you can will change it, or already changed it.

But it doesn’t matter, my malware updated it every time.

What did I do?

I created a double-screen video. 1st part shows the video you were watching (you’ve got a good taste haha . . .), and 2nd part shows the recording of your web cam.

Do not try to find and destroy my virus! (All your data is already uploaded to a remote server)

– Do not try to contact with me

– Various security services will not help you; formatting a disk or destroying a device will not help either, since your data is already on a remote server.

I guarantee you that I will not disturb you again after payment, as you are not my single victim. This is a hacker code of honor.

Don’t be mad at me, everyone has their own work.

exactly what should you do?

Well, in my opinion, $1000 (USD) is a fair price for our little secret. You’ll make the payment by Bitcoin (if you do not know this, search “how to buy bitcoin” in Google).

My Bitcoin wallet Address:

1AyRZviUxoBaCU1pJM5m7C1V2LdhPYiRcB

(It is cAsE sensitive, so copy and paste it)

Important:

You have 48 hour in order to make the payment. (I’ve a facebook pixel in this mail, and at this moment I know that you have read through this email message).

To track the reading of a message and the actions in it, I use the facebook pixel.

Thanks to them. (Everything that is used for the authorities can help us.)

If I do not get the BitCoins, I will certainly send out your video recording to all of your contacts including relatives, coworkers, and so on. Having said that, if I receive the payment, I’ll destroy the video immidiately.

If you need evidence, reply with “Yes!” and I will certainly send out your video recording to your 6 contacts. It is a non-negotiable offer, that being said don’t waste my personal time and yours by responding to this message.

As you can see the email message might be frightening to some people. However, it’s just a scam. No one accessed your email account, there is no malicious software on your computer (in connection with this message at least), and there is no video of you. Even if you have never visited such a website,  you will still receive the email message. If your device does not have a camera on it, you will still receive the email message.

What can/should you do?

Your email address was likely leaked somewhere online so make sure to change the password to your email account and wherever else you reused the password to ensure your privacy and safety. Here are some tips for making a secure new password:

• 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.

Last, but not least, the email message claims to have infected your computer with malware (even though that is not true) and if want to check your computer for malware and other potentially malicious files follow these instructions to clean it up:

1. Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software to scan your computer and remove malicious files and potentially unwanted programs.

2. To install the program, locate and double-click the executable file you just downloaded. The file can usually be found in the Download folder.

3. Choose if this is for home or work use and click Agree and Install to begin installing Malwarebytes. Once the installation is complete, click Finish.

4. Once Malwarebytes is installed, open the program and click the Scan Now button on the dashboard – or go to the Scan tab and click the Start Scan button.

5. When the scan is complete click the Quarantine Selected button.

6. 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.

7. Download HitmanPro to perform a second-opinion scan and remove any remaining malicious trace files. A second-opinion scan is important when removing malware and malicious files from your computer.

8. To install the program, locate and double-click the executable file you just downloaded. The file can usually be found in the Download folder.

9. Once HitmanPro is installed, open the program and click Next to start scanning your computer. *If you are using the free version you may choose to create a copy or perform a one-time scan.

10. When the HitmanPro scan is complete, click the Next button.

11. To activate the free version of HitmanPro: enter your email address twice and click the Activate button.

12. Click the Reboot button.