If a data breach has happened at some point whether that be recent or in the past your email address may have been exposed online. They may not target their victims immediately after the data breach, they may decide to do it months or even years later. The cybercriminals generate a threatening email, the more threatening the email; the more likely people are to fall victim to it! Surely if someone did have a video recording of you, they would send it to you as this would be proof. The more vulnerable they make you the recipient feel, the more likely they are to receive their ransom request of payment. Unfortunately there are lots of people who feel so threatened that they pay the money.
Sextortion Scam: What to Do If You Get the Latest Phishing Spam Demanding Bitcoin
Sextortion scam knows your password, but don’t fall for it – Naked Security
Stay current. And remember to share these important updates with your loved ones to help fight scams too! Anonymous 16 Apr Cyber Extortion Scam I have received this email from the hacker this morning demanding for usd 2, worth of bitcoin.
Sextortion emails and porn scams are back – don’t let them scare you!
It claims to have compromising images of the recipient and goes on to ask for payment in order to stop the images being released publicly. Some details vary in different copies of the mail and if the campaign is successful it may evolve more over time. Many people, even those who feel as though they could have been seen in a compromising position, would normally be too wary to fall for a sextortion scam with no evidence. Including a real password makes it seem more convincing, though, which might be enough to fool some people. Several people mailed Krebs copies that they had received of this mail, and in all cases the passwords were more than 10 years old.
You may have arrived at this post because you received an email from a purported hacker who is demanding payment or else they will send compromising information—such as pictures sexual in nature—to all your friends and family. Contrary to the claims in your email, you haven't been hacked or at least, that's not what prompted that email. This is merely a new variation on an old scam which is popularly being called "sextortion. Support Internet Freedom. We have pasted a few examples of these emails at the bottom of this post.