“Your account was under attack” email scam

A new template for a recent email sextortion scam has been uncovered that claims your account was under attack. The email message further states that you were recorded through your camera during a private moment.

The email message is quite vulgar and inappropriate so we will not directly quote it; However, the message transcript has been copied and pasted below:

High level of danger. Your account was under attack.
From: gal81

Hi, dear user of (removed)

We have installed one RAT software into you device
For this moment your email account is hacked too.

Changed your password? You’re doing great!
But my software recognizes every such action. I’m updating passwords!
I’m always one step ahead….

So… I have downloaded all confidential information from your system and I got some more evidence.
The most interesting moment that I have discovered are videos records where you masturbating.

I posted EternalBlue Exploit modification on porn site, and then you installed my malicious code (trojan) on your operation system.
When you clicked the button Play on porn video, at that moment my trojan was downloaded to your device.
After installation, your front camera shoots video every time you masturbate, in addition, the software is synchronized with the video you choose.

For the moment, the software has harvrested all your contact information from social networks and email addresses.
If you need to erase all of your collected data and video with your enjoy, send me $600(usd) in BTC (crypto currency).

This is my Bitcoin wallet: 1GMUM5rDLTARGFQfwHicdwySAy21wsHKpR
You have 48 hours after reading this letter.

After your transaction I will erase all your data.
Otherwise, I will send video with your pranks to all your colleagues, friends and relatives!!!

P.S. I’m asking you – not to answer this letter because the sender’s address is fake, just to keep me incognito.

And henceforth be more careful!
Please visit only secure sites!
Bye,Bye…

As you can see, this email message may be quite frightening and shocking to people who receive it and that’s exactly what the sender wants. The purpose of the email message is to frighten you enough to pay the sender a disclosed amount of Bitcoin to avoid having an intimate video of you sent to your contacts.

This is a common extortion scam that tries to blackmail victims into paying an unnecessary fee in cryptocurrency. If the fee is paid, nothing will happen, and the victim will still receive similar messages.

To be clear, this email message is a scam. No one has taken control of your account, no one associated with the email message has infected your device with malware, and you were not recorded during a private moment through your device’s camera. This email message is part of a widespread campaign and you are simply one person who received the same exact message that many others did.

The bad thing about this is that your email address and other information may have been leaked and passed along online following a breach that occurred on a third-party site such as Adobe, Myspace, and Experian. There is nothing you can do to avoid this but we strongly urge you to change all your passwords to ensure your privacy.