How to avoid a Bitcoin blackmail scam

I got a mail too but dont what actions to they have hacked email address or what I m worried

Bitcoin address of similar attempted blackmail received today: 3PtXcoMRP9B9dh8mx9RA9wrqtqB5i98jVm

Hello, I received an email yesterday saying that they have hacked my email and got access to my computer and they copied all the goes on the server and also made picture of me by hacking my camera. If I do not send them $752 vis bitcoins then they would distribute to my all contact list. I deleted the email, what else I could do? Please advise

Follow-Up: I deleted the nasty email and haven't heard anything more about it. Please let people know that they should not worry--and more importantly, DO NOT PAY ! ! These types of attacks are basically "Phishing-Plus." They have just enough information to get your attention (like your email address & an old password); and will try to get more information out of you. They will use this info to try and squeeze as much money out of you as they can. Let others in your workplace know they can safely delete the email and should report it. If you are concerned about people hacking your camera, tape a scrap of paper over the lens.

The threatening emails were in my sent folder so I am worried about that. I changed my password (which they probably had) the first time and added 2-factor and now just got a 2nd email followup also which has a copy in my "sent" folder.

Yep, I got the your camera was hacked watching porn email. Went straight to spam. Unfortunately, spam grabs emails from doctors offices and business communications. They got an old My Space password as their bona fide. Since man can't, may God give them the punishment they so richly deserve and immediately.

Just received my 2nd extortion email. This time with a password that is 12 years old (previous one was just 11 years old). I hope no one falls for this scam. If these guys were as good as they say they are, they would include a screen grab of the victim, taken with the victim's webcam. That would get anyone's attention. Fortunately all these schmucks have are decades-old passwords, email addresses and a tired, played-out scheme.

I received the same exact email yesterday...with a pw I used years ago...police said it's probably a scam because of payment in 'bitcoins'...had I found this forum sooner, I would've sent copy of email to FBI...I did, however, do as suggested in regards to camera and mic...

I got the email a few months ago and changed the password, added 2-factor to that email address because it was indeed sent from my account. Now I got a followup message, again sent from my account. How do they do this?

just received my demand for money as well, standard poor grammar/english. claiming to have video, and saw old password only for employers healthcare website. interesting but obvious scam. if it were a real scam they would include the video,

Seems Police across globe are not interested. Too many targets to deal with maybe. But there will be only a handful of fraudsters - maybe just one or two. People who have the millions of data files which major corporations have been lazy enough to "lose" Ie let someone copy them. The Bitcoin account may well be genuine, otherwise they're not going to get the pay-off. Some people receiving this will be wealthy VIPs who judge it easier to pay the money and get the fraudster off their back. So the police should take it seriously. Check out the Bitcoin accounts and collar the criminal (s).

3rd try posting here: I got the first email matching the one described here in ~January and it was indeed sent from my own account. It had an easily crackable password. I changed the password and added 2-factor to my email account and got a 2nd message a couple weeks ago. Again, sent from my email account to myself. How are they doing this?

I got this email and it made my heart skip a few beats but it didn't make sense, like so many of you. I have a tablet dedicated solely to porn and will not use it for anything else because of this very reason. Tablets are so inexpensive these days. Why take chances?

I got it your old pasword was from a public database of websitas thata have been hacked. stay sharp use strong paswords and never the same to many websites. specialy for the prn... yes I see once in while...

From address BTC 1B6jSKppvZ7QjjiujWGCFJQB8CK9v4UF58 But I have to have an account to report to bitcoin. Using very old password - again would be interesting to find how they got it.

I get about 5 or 6 of these a day. Every day for many months! They appear to be from me, to me mentioning a password I haven't used in over 10 years. Of course, I am never going to pay. What I came here looking for - is there any place we can forward these? Is there any type of law enforcement or computer scam agency that can use them to track down these scammers? I would really like to send mine to someone that can arrest somebody. I have a file full of them! I keep them around in case somebody is trying to do something about them and needs them to figure out where they are coming from. I am weary of receiving so many. I have had the same email address since 1998 so maybe that is why I get more than my other friends seem to. What a nuisance and I want people arrested!!!! ;-)

Got this and as an elderly lady has terrified me and there has been a follow up email...live alone this is truly frighting...help needed

I got an extortion email today for an OLD password I had like 11 to 12 years ago. DO NOT SEND MONEY TO THESE THIEVES I give you one chance - ####### Your Nightmare

Received the bitcoin letter today demanding money or in 8 days I’m toast with my spouse and neighborhood- can someone please tell what comes next- I see a lot of comments here but not much on what happens as a follow up

I am a female, and have a web based business. I do have several email boxes, and have received the same bitcoin emails to three different boxes. I send these scam emails to the bin, if "they" want to release a nonexistent tape/video, have at it!! Really, these idiots are a joke. So tired of these complete losers conning people!!

i have had 5 of them txt trying 2 blackmail me and dont know what 2 do about them im an old man and dont know what 2do iv very little money plz advise me thank u

Started googling this after getting a scam email today, and found there’s really nothing you can do about it. There’s no place you can report easily (I’m not gonna call the police or FBI, lol). FTC, we need up-to-date regulation for crypto! Hope the regulators have been working on something like this.

Had the same thing happen.said they recorded me pleasing myself on my web cam and going to send it to all my contacts and wanted 800$ sent through bitcoin. Thought about it then relized the password they have is 4years old and my laptop has not worked for months and when it did the camera was broken and covered 24/7

Got this threatening letter in the mail today demanding $19,700 anonymously using Bitcoin. Didn’t know what to do, then looked on internet to see if there was any info regarding a scam. Then I found this page - thank you for clearing it up. These jerks should be arrested if found!

I also got many of this threatening bitcoin porn scam emails.. it asks me to deposit $985 into this bitcoin address (BTC Wallet) is 1HzRDHH5LdsKXiUpL4F2J6BZRuZjY2pT2W. Can we take down the bitcoin so no more illegal use of it? or Can Bitcoin restrict the wallet registration so the real person can use it? and take down the fake ones.

Bitcoin .... 1YMaB2nAcg36RRJryeV2QwqhRUm9K2K4V Same threat folks ... 2nd one in 5 months

I had been getting a few of these recently but today the message came with a quote of my 5 character password that I have used for years on forums and chat rooms. According to a list I keep at home, 89 of these sites use the same password, so anyone of them could have been hacked to harvest this shared password. I'm not bothering to change the passwords on all 89 sites, only those sites where some service or product is sold or where I care about what someone might post in my name.

receive them four times a week. they claim they video e watching a porn site. one...uh not my style two...i don't have a video camera to my computer. very strange as it shows coming from me to me demanding bit coins

Because I have a website and several company Email addresses, I receive anywhere between 3 and 10 sextortion letters daily. They use past partial passwords. I've had a band aid covering my laptop's camera lens for about 6 months. The perpetrators provide a Bitcoin account for the targeted to use. Why can't law enforcement trace the Bitcoin accounts and put an end to some of this criminal activity? I would appreciate any insights. I also receive phony shipping notices, merchandise orders, bank transfers, etc. --- about 20/day. Lots of people with too much time on their hands. I think these might be ransomware tools and phishing expeditions. Thank you.

Here is an Email I received today 5/20/19 David Ghost

I recieved this email as well. Upsetting they had one of passwords from, who knows how long ago. How do they know that?? They claim they hacked me from a porn video. Xporn or xvideo ... something like that. Wants 982$ and has 14 of my contacts info. The spelling was correct. Even said that the email was encrypted, which it is.

I got 2 of them. One says they hacked my email and sent email from my account. Other one has my old password which I don't remember. I deleted both of the emails so don't have the bitcoin addresses. I have 2 factor authentication enabled and periodically check the sign in activity in my email account. I am not sure they are talking truth or not, but it would be scary if they have the real footage.

I jus got an Instagram account tell me they'll help me with money for my cats and my dad I care for and I'm disabled. I changed password pin and shut down the email I set up specifically for this I did it to catch em tbh I need to know how to. Move forward I have IP and all that

I reported to ic3.gov. the contents of the email I received through my business website. Copy and pasted here: You've just received a new submission to your Contact Form. Submitted Information: Name RobertRob RobertRob Email mbooth24@ I am inquiring about: Other Comment Your computer, email and smartphone are hacked. We have all your photos, personal correspondence and access to bank accounts. On June 3, we will post on the Internet and send to all people who you have in contacts and social networks all your photos, correspondence, access to bank accounts and payment systems. You will be sued and the police will be interested in your person. A ransom is worth 1 Bitcoin. Pay 1 BTC until June 3 to our bitcoin wallet: LNcUGLunEpDMo4sxNAgAKAGk8eAddTGW

I received the following attempted Scam today on May 29, 2019 and the offer to pay through bitcoin with their bitcoin address. Hi! As you may have noticed, I also sent this email from YOUR email account (if you didn't see, check the from Sender email ID.) Your computer was infected with my private malware, RAT, (Remote Administration Tool). The malware gave me full access and control over your computer, I got access to all your accounts (see password above) and it was even possible for me to turn your webcam and microphone on and you didn't even notice about it. For a long time I was spying on you through your webcam and recorded MANY EMBARASSING VIDEOS OF YOU!!! Hahaha... you know what I mean! I collected all your private data, pictures, documents, videos, absolutly everything and I know about your family! After that I removed my malware, to not leave any traces. I can send the videos to all your contacts (email, social network) and publish all your private data everywhere!!! Only you can prevent me from doing this! To stop me, pay 1400$ in bitcoin (BTC). If you don't know how to buy bitcoin, go to: www. paxful. com ( there are over 300 ways to do it ). Or Google - "How to buy Bitcoin?" If you want to create your own wa llet to receive and send bitcoin, register here: www. login. blockchain. com /en /#/ signup / Or send direct to my wallet from www. pax ful. com My bitcoin wallet is: 12ZyXPMJBAFCfpyYTYo8V6QcG653Lcs9oj Copy and paste my wallet, it's (cAsE- sensetive) After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and everything else and we will forget everything, you will never hear from me again...BUT if you don't pay and simply ignore this email, I promise, I will turn your life and the life of your family into HELL and you will remember me for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! I give you 4 days to get the bitcoins and pay. Since I already have access to your account, I will know if this email has been already read. To make sure you don't miss this email, I sent it multiple times. Don't share this email with anyone, it just will make everything w orse, only I can help you out in this situation and this should stay our little secret! MailClientID: 7336239098

I just received a similar email, even though I don't have a cam. This scared me for a moment until I looked this up, and noticed that others have gotten the same email prior to this date and even today. Now that I know its a scam, which I assumed it was anyway, I'm relieved but it was still scary.

Received one a couple of days ago: Your computer, email and smartphone are hacked. We have all your photos, personal correspondence and access to bank accounts. On June 3, we will post on the Internet and send to all people who you have in contacts and social networks all your photos, correspondence, access to bank accounts and payment systems. You will be sued and the police will be interested in your person. A ransom is worth 1 Bitcoin. Pay 1 BTC until June 3 to our bitcoin wallet: 1LNcUGLunEpDMo4sxNAgAKAGk8eAddTGW

Just got one now. They didn't have an email or password I've ever used. The email it was sent to was for a provider I've never heard of too (@web .de). Looked it up it looks German. I don't even know how it got to my inbox. From this email address: guillaume_baby , for this bitcoin: 1HZBCQ4XAAbgV8gRS7TPqTFYFXrCH68uky

Did anyone else get the threat that says, the hacker used Random Administration Tool (RAT)?

I just got one that looks like this. He didn't even put my info into where he was claiming to know my password. "Hello! I am a hacker who has access to your computer. I also have full access to your acc: At the time of hacking your acc (steph-sa had this pass: 1xxxxxx You can say: this is my, but old pass! Or: I can change my pass at any time! Of course! You will be right, but the fact is that when you change the pass, my trojan every time saved a new one! I've been watching you for a few months now. But the fact is that you were infected with trojan through an adult web-site that you visited. If you are not familiar with this, I will explain. Soft gives me full access and control over a computer or other device. This means that I can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it. I also have access to all your contacts and all your correspondence from e-mail and messangers. Why your antivirus did not detect my malware? Answer: My malware uses the driver, I update its signatures every 4 hours so that your antivirus is silent. I made a video showing how you satisfy yourself in the left half of the screen, and in the right half you see the video that you watched. With one click of the mouse, I can send this video to all your emails and contacts on social networks. I can also post access to all your e-mail correspondence and messengers that you use. If you want to prevent this, transfer the amount of $744 to my bitcoin address (if you do not know how to do this, write to Google: "Buy Bitcoin"). My bitcoin address (BTC Wallet) is: 13F91zxub6CwZW72E2rxjQVUX5ycARP3HE After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and you will never hear me again. I give you 48 hours to pay. I have a notice reading this letter, and the timer will work when you see this letter. Filing a complaint somewhere does not make sense because this email cannot be tracked like my bitcoin address. And please do not try to answer me (the sender's address is automatically generated). I do not make any mistakes! If I find that you have shared this message with someone else, the video will be immediately distributed. Bye!"

I received an email today, Same sort of scam “I have a screenshot of watching porn and a screenshot of you enjoying yourself, send me $767 in bitcoin and this will go away, if not I lock your device and send this picture that I pasted and glued together to all your contacts”. Well A) I don’t watch porn B) I am not that stupid

I received the exact email at my office inbox. Funny thing is we work on a secure facility where not web cams or mics are allowed. The password they had, I used probably 10 years ago for paypal for buying on line. The account has been cancelled many years ago, so nothing to worry there. Just a piece of advice: The fact that you are receiving an email from your own email account, doesn't necesarily means that they have access to it. With a little bit of knowledge you can "mask" the senders email for whatever email address you want. So don't be affraid. The trick here is not to fall into the scam. Reporting it to the police, is a good idea, but as you can see from this site, most probably they receive the same complain 1000x times, so there is not much they can do. Scammers are experts in deceiving. Don't believe everything they said, even if sounds real. Remember that they send this email to 1000x of peoples, so not even them will have the man and computer power to pull the bluf. Happy and safe surf to all . Regards from Switzerland.

I received the email below, I dont have a web cam but the pw was an old pw, I dont remember going to the website it says they were able to access my pc, but I could have- are these just basic scams or was my pc actually hacked? Your Privacy

Hi just this evening I to have received a similar message I use Yahoo mail app on my phone it's Android email from sender. hanna@ govt and the rest was a bunch of numbers no intentions was explained. aside from something about a nation wide high priority investigation that I was under and needed to pay some money or something about I was going to be arrested. I truly don't believe that I am important enough to be under a priority federal government investigation. when all I do is go fishing or grill out. I'm concerned because I blocked it and blocked the address only to discover that when I opened up the send email to friend my phone became unresponsive then it stopped so I closed app restart phone open Yahoo mail app an selected send email icon and begin entering my buddies email when I pressed I believe the letter n the hanna@ govt email automatically popped up and was in place where you suppose to put buddies email also it took over the add a rule thingy instead of saying add something about exception it actually red out as hanna aside from one small detail I noticed that this time the letter h and g was capitalize. not sure if it means anything. but I'm not paying anyone anything to investigate me on national level. I'm not amused.

Hi everyone, I received this email, Hi! I know that: Shaas - is your password! Your computer was infected with my private malware, RAT, (Remote Administration Tool). The malware gave me full access and control over your computer, I got access to all your accounts (see password above) and it even was possible for me to turn your webcam on and you didn't even notice about it. For some time I was spying on you through your webcam and recorded many EMBARASSING VIDEOS OF YOU! I collected all your private data, pictures, documents, videos, absolutly everything and I know about your family! To not leave any traces, I removed my malware after that. I can send the videos to all your contacts (email, social network) and publish all your private data everywhere!!! Only you can prevent me from doing this! To stop me, pay exactly 2000$ in bitcoin (BTC). If you don't know how to buy bitcoin, go to: www. paxful. ( there are over 300 ways to do it ). Or Google - "How to buy Bitcoin?" If you want to create your own wallet to receive and send bitcoin with the current rate, register here: www. login. blockchain. /en/#/signup/ Or send the exact amount direct to my wallet from www. paxful. My bitcoin wallet is: 1HwJeZ5uyNJ6Peq8x1wixKVnurY1yURK8P Copy and paste my wallet, it's (cAsE-sEnseTiVe) After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and everything else and we will forget everything, you will never hear from me again...BUT if you don't pay and simply ignore this email, I promise, I will turn your life and the life of your family into HELL and you will remember me, for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!! give you 3 days to get the bitcoins and pay. Since I already have access to your account, I will know if this email has been already read. To make sure you don't miss this email, I sent it multiple times. Don't share this email with anyone, it just will make everything worse, only I can help you out in this situation and this should stay our little secret! ailClientID: 4787675487

Who do I report this to?