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Blackmail email

arrianalexander · 2019-02-03 12:23:57

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 john.smith@live.com 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…

03-02-2019 1:23pm

#1

arrianalexander

Registered Users Posts: 963 ✭✭✭

Join Date: May 2004

Posts: 798

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 john.smith@live.com

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

0

Comments

#2 03-02-2019 1:26pm

whomitconcerns

Registered Users Posts: 4,308 ✭✭✭

Join Date: April 2012

Posts: 4086

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 john.smith@live.com

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

0
#3 03-02-2019 1:27pm

Atlantic Dawn

Registered Users Posts: 81,110 ✭✭✭✭

M

Join Date: January 2010

Posts: 80693

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

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

0
#4 03-02-2019 1:28pm

bri007

Registered Users Posts: 1,375 ✭✭✭

Join Date: November 2010

Posts: 1240

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

0
#5 03-02-2019 1:28pm

degsie

Registered Users Posts: 8,727 ✭✭✭

Join Date: January 2004

Posts: 8089

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

See if the email address has been compromised in the past

0
#6 03-02-2019 1:31pm

Oink

Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 2,150 Mod ✭✭✭✭

Join Date: June 2005

Posts: 1982

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.

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#7 03-02-2019 1:40pm

arrianalexander

Registered Users Posts: 963 ✭✭✭

Join Date: May 2004

Posts: 798

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

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#8 23-04-2020 3:27pm

Snickers Man

Registered Users Posts: 5,301 ✭✭✭

Join Date: April 2005

Posts: 4916

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

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#9 23-04-2020 3:30pm

Alun

Registered Users Posts: 21,418 ✭✭✭✭

Join Date: November 2002

Posts: 20974

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

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#10 23-04-2020 3:33pm

TheBoyConor

Closed Accounts Posts: 3,292 ✭✭✭

Join Date: March 2018

Posts: 3228

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

0
#11 23-04-2020 8:45pm

degsie

Registered Users Posts: 8,727 ✭✭✭

Join Date: January 2004

Posts: 8089

TheBoyConor wrote: »

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

indeed

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