{"id":386,"date":"2020-05-07T20:34:07","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T20:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/td_uid_65_5eb470bf6463f"},"modified":"2020-05-22T17:26:52","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T17:26:52","slug":"email-extortion-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/currentscams.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/07\/email-extortion-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"Email Extortion Scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to a\u00a0recent study, people are more likely to respond to threatening email extortion scam messages than to those that promise rewards which explains the growth of email extortion scams.<\/p>\n

These are email that threaten to publicize compromising information about you whether it\u2019s true or not unless you make a quick payment.<\/p>\n

Extortion scammers have a unique tactic that they use.\u00a0 In their message, they say that they know a password you\u2019ve used one of your online accounts. They then go one to claim that they\u2019ve implanted malware on your computer that let them capture your keystrokes, watch through your webcam and gather evidence that you have visited adult websites.<\/p>\n

They then go on to say they\u2019ll share that information with all your email and social media contacts along with video of you enjoying your viewing.\u00a0 They then demand you pay hush money, typically several hundred dollars in the form of\u00a0Bitcoin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t panic. There\u2019s little chance this cyber-blackmailer has really taken control of your computer.<\/p>\n

Usually, extortion scammers send out threats indiscriminately.\u00a0 They acquire \u00a0a large number of email addresses and associated passwords that they likely obtained on the dark web (Think, black market) after big\u00a0corporate data breaches<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They hope to stumble across a few people who don\u2019t change their passwords regularly or do have some secret they don\u2019t want known.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind, there have been actual cases of hackers gaining access to someone\u2019s webcam, and this gives the scam a modicum of plausibility. To add some spice to the scam, some scammers tinker with their email messages, making the \u201cFrom\u201d section show your actual email address to create the illusion that they have control of your account.<\/p>\n

The FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) documented 51,146 cases of online extortion in 2018, with victims suffering losses of $83.4 million. The pornography scenario, termed \u201csextortion,\u201d accounted for the majority of extortion complaints<\/p>\n

Warning Signs<\/strong><\/p>\n