Blackmail email

arrianalexander

hi

someone i know got an email trying to black mail them into giving them money/bitcoin

the email subject was the first part of their email , for example email [email protected]

the subject read john.smith :town

they claim town is his password, town is only part of his password

they claim they installed malware and used a keylogger and accessed his webcam while he accessed porn sites

they claim to have his contact lists etc and are going to mail the video to them

He hasn't accessed any porn sites , the fella wouldn't be tech savvy so isn't someone who would of accessed and then deleted history. He didn't even know there was a webcam on the laptop.

i ran an malware programme on his laptop and found no malware present.

the email is very poorly written and doesn't make much sense.

he is quite concerned, ive told him change his passwords, and if he wants speak to the gardai and show them a copy of the email.

any advice ?
the only red flag for me is they knew part of a password, which was in subject, the main body of email had no specific information

thanks in advance

whomitconcerns

arrianalexander wrote: »

hi

someone i know got an email trying to black mail them into giving them money/bitcoin

the email subject was the first part of their email , for example email [email protected]

the subject read john.smith :town

they claim town is his password, town is only part of his password

they claim they installed malware and used a keylogger and accessed his webcam while he accessed porn sites

they claim to have his contact lists etc and are going to mail the video to them

He hasn't accessed any porn sites , the fella wouldn't be tech savvy so isn't someone who would of accessed and then deleted history. He didn't even know there was a webcam on the laptop.

i ran an malware programme on his laptop and found no malware present.

the email is very poorly written and doesn't make much sense.

he is quite concerned, ive told him change his passwords, and if he wants speak to the gardai and show them a copy of the email.

any advice ?
the only red flag for me is they knew part of a password, which was in subject, the main body of email had no specific information

thanks in advance

It's just spam. The password is probably a good few years old and was pwned. I got a similar email recently. Forget about it

Atlantic Dawn

It's a scam email doing the rounds...

More here...
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=109236530

bri007

Just ignore it and block the email, pure scam and happens regularly.

degsie

Check out....
https://haveibeenpwned.com/

See if the email address has been compromised in the past

Oink

Found one of those mails in my spam folder, weeks later. Was promised all sorts of excitement in my life if I didn’t pay up. Still waiting.

arrianalexander

thanks for replies guys, has put my mind and his at ease

Snickers Man

Got a similar mail today. Claimed that "I know your password" and showed me what was indeed an old email password that I changed a couple of years ago after my Amazon and eBay accounts were hacked. (Both matters resolved to my satisfaction, mostly, so Kudos to Amazon and eBay)

Apparently a random selection of people in my Smartphone and Facebook contacts lists will be treated to a video of me engaging in various autoerotic acts while viewing some "interesting" content online.

And I note that the "ransom" has gone up from $655 to $2,000. Oh well, may as well put up the asking price. Seeing as you're not going to get it anyway

Alun

I get a few of these too, claiming they've taken control of my webcam and microphone. Little do they know .. I haven't got either of those

TheBoyConor

This is the oldest con in the book. It's not even imaginative.

degsie

TheBoyConor wrote: »

This is the oldest con in the book. It's not even imaginative.

indeed