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extortion attempt

  • 16-05-2019 11:59pm
    #1
    bsb1971
    Registered Users Posts: 575 ✭✭✭


    I got an email this evening - it showed up in my junk mail, as I was browsing to delete whatever was there. There was an email there, with an old password of mine in the title. Basically, I was informed that I have been visiting adult web sites(I have, nothing out of the ordinary, but I've always used incognito mode when doing so) and this person had used malware to access my passwords and all my contacts on messenger etc. I have avast on my laptop, and when i ran it, it showed no malware present. They are looking for 968 dollars payment via bitcoin or they will release a video clip of what i have been watching and a video clip of me via my webcam to 8 people on my contacts list. With the usual advisor not to contact the police or anyone as they have covered their tracks etc.

    Has anyone else had this happen to them and what did they do? Please no jokes, as I am really freaked out by this tbh, the password they used in the email was my password for Boards ffs.


Comments

  • #2
    Riesen_Meal
    Registered Users Posts: 10,575 ✭✭✭✭Riesen_Meal


    bsb1971 wrote: »
    I got an email this evening - it showed up in my junk mail, as I was browsing to delete whatever was there. There was an email there, with an old password of mine in the title. Basically, I was informed that I have been visiting adult web sites(I have, nothing out of the ordinary, but I've always used incognito mode when doing so) and this person had used malware to access my passwords and all my contacts on messenger etc. I have avast on my laptop, and when i ran it, it showed no malware present. They are looking for 968 dollars payment via bitcoin or they will release a video clip of what i have been watching and a video clip of me via my webcam to 8 people on my contacts list. With the usual advisor not to contact the police or anyone as they have covered their tracks etc.

    Has anyone else had this happen to them and what did they do? Please no jokes, as I am really freaked out by this tbh, the password they used in the email was my password for Boards ffs.

    https://haveibeenpwned.com/

    Put your email into this and it will tell you if you have been compromised, it's supposed to be doing the rounds...

    https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057952429/1/#post109321152


  • #3
    bsb1971
    Registered Users Posts: 575 ✭✭✭bsb1971


    Thanks for that, yes I have been, but nothing recent, seems me and millions of others have been also. It really freaked me out, but will be changing all my passwords now for sure, even if it is an old breach, I used be lazy about passwords, not anymore now I think, even if it is spam, has woken me up alright, even have tape over my webcam now!


  • #4
    Phileas Frog
    Closed Accounts Posts: 946 ✭✭✭Phileas Frog


    Delete the email, get a password manager, and carry on with your life. It's just spam using compromised passwords...


  • #5
    Fr_Dougal
    Registered Users Posts: 9,167 ✭✭✭Fr_Dougal


    bsb1971 wrote: »
    I got an email this evening - it showed up in my junk mail, as I was browsing to delete whatever was there. There was an email there, with an old password of mine in the title. Basically, I was informed that I have been visiting adult web sites(I have, nothing out of the ordinary, but I've always used incognito mode when doing so) and this person had used malware to access my passwords and all my contacts on messenger etc. I have avast on my laptop, and when i ran it, it showed no malware present. They are looking for 968 dollars payment via bitcoin or they will release a video clip of what i have been watching and a video clip of me via my webcam to 8 people on my contacts list. With the usual advisor not to contact the police or anyone as they have covered their tracks etc.

    Has anyone else had this happen to them and what did they do? Please no jokes, as I am really freaked out by this tbh, the password they used in the email was my password for Boards ffs.

    Received the very same email saying that they have a video of me visiting adult sites, I don’t even have a webcam! :D

    Delete the email and forget about it, but make sure you’ve changed your passwords.


  • #6
    smokedetector
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭smokedetector


    bsb1971 wrote: »
    I got an email this evening - it showed up in my junk mail, as I was browsing to delete whatever was there. There was an email there, with an old password of mine in the title. Basically, I was informed that I have been visiting adult web sites(I have, nothing out of the ordinary, but I've always used incognito mode when doing so) and this person had used malware to access my passwords and all my contacts on messenger etc. I have avast on my laptop, and when i ran it, it showed no malware present. They are looking for 968 dollars payment via bitcoin or they will release a video clip of what i have been watching and a video clip of me via my webcam to 8 people on my contacts list. With the usual advisor not to contact the police or anyone as they have covered their tracks etc.

    Has anyone else had this happen to them and what did they do? Please no jokes, as I am really freaked out by this tbh, the password they used in the email was my password for Boards ffs.

    Keep going on with your life. If you don't give them a chance they will get tired and find another victim. Although it would be nice to show it to police (no need to be shy), maybe they will get some traces.

    Good luck.


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  • #7
    anacc
    Registered Users Posts: 229 ✭✭anacc


    smokedetector wrote: »
    Keep going on with your life. If you don't give them a chance they will get tired and find another victim. Although it would be nice to show it to police (no need to be shy), maybe they will get some traces.

    Good luck.

    The police will do nothing. It’s just spam. It’s not like this is a specific targeted extortion attempt, it’s a mass-mail sent to people who’s usernames and passwords were found in a breach. The cops will take it no more serious than a 419 mail.


  • #8
    capnsparkles
    Registered Users Posts: 281 ✭✭capnsparkles


    That email has been going around for months. I received the same one in different guises multiple times. The password they used was an old Linkedin password.
    That database was compromised a few years ago and the data only recently was sold on the dark web about a year ago I think.


  • #9
    funkey_monkey
    Registered Users Posts: 8,052 ✭✭✭funkey_monkey


    Just got this also too. I put my email into the pwnd.com website and 7 hits came up.

    Do I need to change all my passwords or should I only need to change the ones for the listed websites? I've changed the ones for my current email addresses, but the listed compromised websites are no longer of interest to me (dormant accounts) so do I need to do anything there?
    Do I need to change the passwords for all my banking etc websites?

    Should website administrators not be emailing dormant users after x years to ask if they want to keep their account open or deleted and purged?


    In terms of a Password Manager, I understand that I can use potentially complex passowrds for websites without having to remember them, but if the Password Manager app gets hacked, then it is a a bigger issue is it not?


  • #10
    anacc
    Registered Users Posts: 229 ✭✭anacc


    funkey_monkey wrote: »
    Just got this also too. I put my email into the pwnd.com website and 7 hits came up.

    Do I need to change all my passwords or should I only need to change the ones for the listed websites? I've changed the ones for my current email addresses, but the listed compromised websites are no longer of interest to me (dormant accounts) so do I need to do anything there?
    Do I need to change the passwords for all my banking etc websites?

    Should website administrators not be emailing dormant users after x years to ask if they want to keep their account open or deleted and purged?


    In terms of a Password Manager, I understand that I can use potentially complex passowrds for websites without having to remember them, but if the Password Manager app gets hacked, then it is a a bigger issue is it not?

    It’s best practice to change the passwords for the compromised websites, or else delete the accounts if you don’t use them anymore. You only need to change passwords on other sites if you reused passwords from the compromised sites — if that’s the case change the passwords on the other sites NOW! (NEVER reuse passwords)

    You are correct that if a password manager gets hacked the you are hosed but the risk is minimal compared to reusing passwords or keeping passwords in a file somewhere. Nothing is 100% safe but a password manager is probably the safest way to store passwords.


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