Crypto Blackmail

Crypto Blackmail

The latest crypto scam forces Instagram users to make videos directing their followers to phony get-rich-quick schemes.

Staff Writer, PCWorld Nov 9, 2021 8:41 am PST

A password manager helps protect against phishing attempts

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Account security is always a concern when you put any kind of personal information out on the web. But a new generation of scammers is emerging, using a particularly devious combination of social engineering, cryptocurrency, and old-fashioned blackmail. The scam is becoming more common on Instagram, where popular account holders are targeted and forced to assist in swindling their followers with fake videos.
The technique is chronicled in a report by Motherboard . There are a few variations, but it essentially boils down to three steps. First, a malefactor gets ahold of an Instagram user’s account information, either via sending a phishing link with a fake login page or by finding a reused password from one of the near-constant security breaches already available. Then the thief contacts the account holder and forces them to record a video of themselves, recommending their followers invest money with “a friend.” The video claims that you can quickly triple your investment via Bitcoin or other get-rich-quick schemes. The criminal promises to return control of the account to its rightful owner upon completion. The victim posts the coerced video with a payment link, their followers are swindled out of huge sums of money via cryptocurrency or purchases or simple money transfers, and the criminal disappears — generally without returning the Instagram account.
This new form of socialized theft is particularly distressing, as it forces the victim to become an active participant in stealing from their followers. While there’s no real-world equivalent, you might compare it to a mugger jumping you in an alley and forcing you to go home and stick up your friends and family, then returning with the proceeds.
With Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies currently receiving a shot of legitimacy via national advertising campaigns from crypto exchanges , not to mention constant news of crypto booms in economic circles, it’s no wonder that social media users are particularly ripe targets. Combining that opportunity with forced endorsements from victims, and taking advantage of Instagram’s sometimes labyrinthian account recovery systems, is proving a particularly nasty and effective technique.
Check out Motherboard’s full report for more details on how this scam works. The best way to protect yourself is to stay vigilant against phishing techniques , enable two-factor authentication , and to use password discipline, never repeating login credentials from one website to another. An easy way to up your personal security online is to start using a password manager.
Michael is a former graphic designer who's been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.

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I have been getting these periodically since October 2018. I traced the password they had to an account I used only for a couple of weeks in 2006(!) on the job posting website Monster.com. That is the only account in which I used the password the scammers had. I had to laugh--each time I received the email threat to send their alleged video to my contact list if I didn't pay up, the amount of the "ransom" was smaller!
Today, May 14, 2020, I received a scam to pay Bitcon in the amount of $2000 within one hour; otherwise, it will publish my purported porn. It had one my passwords, which meant this password of mine had been exposed. Will change password of website and email, and had deleted the fraud email by "Mono".
I got the same one today, but 24 hours to comply. Filed FTC report. The password they had is a very old one and I make new passwords up all the time. For anyone who is reading this thread, It's a good idea to change your passwords regularly if you don't already.
I got the same one yesterday. What is an FTC report? I forwarded to Comcast's Abuse@ comcast.
I also got an email today stating the same thing.

I know ( Password)is one of your password on day of hack..
Lets get directly to the point.
Not one person has paid me to check about you.
You do not know me and you're probably thinking why you are getting this email?
in fact, i actually placed a malware on the adult vids (adult porn) website and you know what, you visited this site to experience fun (you know what i mean).
When you were viewing videos, your browser started out operating as a RDP having a key logger which provided me with accessibility to your display and web cam.
immediately after that, my malware obtained every one of your contacts from your Messenger, FB, as well as email account.
after that i created a double-screen video. 1st part shows the video you were viewing (you have a nice taste omg), and 2nd part displays the recording of your cam, and its you.
Best solution would be to pay me $1082.
We are going to refer to it as a donation. in this situation, i most certainly will without delay remove your video.
My -BTC -address: 1JFYdq9QQJYUih6YmP2aHtU82RkLewHZ5Q
[case SeNSiTiVe, copy & paste it]
You could go on your life like this never happened and you will not ever hear back again from me.
You'll make the payment via Bitcoin (if you do not know this, search 'how to buy bitcoin' in Google).
if you are planning on going to the law, surely, this e-mail can not be traced back to me, because it's hacked too.
I have taken care of my actions. i am not looking to ask you for a lot, i simply want to be paid.
if i do not receive the bitcoin;, i definitely will send out your video recording to all of your contacts including friends and family, co-workers, and so on.
Nevertheless, if i do get paid, i will destroy the recording immediately.
If you need proof, reply with Yeah then i will send out your video recording to your 8 friends.
it's a nonnegotiable offer and thus please don't waste mine time & yours by replying to this message.

What should file a complaint under?
Please advise..
I got this as well. Looks like the hackers get people's passwords by simply searching any of the numerous data breach databases available on criminal forums.

I panicked at first but being in IT I read the entire email and it seemed very suspicious obviously including the wording used. I changed all my accounts using the password that was compromised.

I know (password) is one of your password on day of hack..

Lets get directly to the point.
Not one person has paid me to check about you.

You do not know me and you're probably thinking why you are getting this email?
in fact, i actually placed a malware on the adult vids (adult porn) website and you know what, you visited this site to experience fun (you know what i mean).

When you were viewing videos, your browser started out operating as a RDP having a key logger which provided me with accessibility to your display and web cam.

immediately after that, my malware obtained every one of your contacts from your Messenger, FB, as well as email account.

after that i created a double-screen video. 1st part shows the video you were viewing (you have a nice taste omg), and 2nd part displays the recording of your cam, and its you.

Best solution would be to pay me $1050.

We are going to refer to it as a donation. in this situation, i most certainly will without delay remove your video.

My -BTC -address: 14GYvZHr5dCoVLK3jqW98zFeT5AVBpWsBG
[case SeNSiTiVe, copy & paste it]

You could go on your life like this never happened and you will not ever hear back again from me.

You'll make the payment via Bitcoin (if you do not know this, search 'how to buy bitcoin' in Google).
if you are planning on going to the law, surely, this e-mail can not be traced back to me, because it's hacked too.
I have taken care of my actions. i am not looking to ask you for a lot, i simply want to be paid.

if i do not receive the bitcoin;, i definitely will send out your video recording to all of your contacts including friends and family, co-workers, and so on.
Nevertheless, if i do get paid, i will destroy the recording immediately.
If you need proof, reply with Yeah then i will send out your video recording to your 8 friends.
it's a nonnegotiable offer and thus please don't waste mine time & yours by replying to this message.
Got this also. I knew it was not true because 1. I don't visit porn sites and 2. I don't have a webcam.

Concerning they got an old password, but it appears to be an old forum password as I use much more secure PWs for email and all other important accounts.
Same also, on 15/09, exact wording.
I got this email twice today, from two different email addresses. I'm not worried because I never visited porn websites, LOL. Better luck next time suckers
Same. At first I was worried that they knew an old password but when I read the email, I was like.. joke's on you, I never visited such a site. Plus the webcam on my computer is covered, LOL. Deleted the spam.
I got the same email today. But the password they tried to show me.... I don't know where or if I've ever used that one anywhere? Is there somewhere I can go to see where I would have ever used that password?
Hey please tell what happened did you send the money did any harm come upon you afterwards ? Because i recieved the exact same email i am so panicked right now please someone help !
Yeah I also got the same mail what u guys do is it safe or is it really a problem
I have received these. I figure if it was real the scammer would include an example of my 'embarrassing' data to induce a bit of serious panic. Not that I have anything to hide (sigh). Personally I'm more worried about identity theft.
In 99.9% of the cases, these emails are empty threats. They do not have any video; they do not have access to your computer.

They simply got access to some leaked database that contained your email address and some old password.

Suggested course of action is to pay nothing and to change all your passwords.

The odds of them actually having any photos or video is miniscule.
No, please do not worry.
It is a completely fake one and nothing is recorded.
I’ve had 3 of these now. All the same script based on an old Dropbox password. Ignored them all and nothing happens. Don’t give them money, they have nothing! Just do a password audit if you’re worried.
hey i also receive this kind of spam email ... just going through some anxiety about this... getting the same type of spam but just different kind of btc account... so anyone can you address what i need to do and not do also how to find the account if i do not use either
Received same email Tuesday September 29 2020. Password quoted was something I used for many unimportant things. I won't use it in future.
Have reported to FTC for what it is worth.
I got this email and it said my name was a password that they had and I was so confused because I'm not dumb enough to use my name for a password which just made the email really weird for me... I'm trying to go through everything to see what it could've been but idk...
So I got the same email today about 7 hours ago, just curious what you did about it.
I was pretty freaked out, still am a bit to be fair. I do know that it has to be bs since I don't actually have a webcam, none of my pcs ever did. But still, it's something that I would like to see tied up so I can safely move on. Any suggestions?
I got exactly the same thing letter by letter except for the amount
It was 1040 instead of 1082
My goodness
Had the same email. Word for word too, except they asked for $4481! An odd amount..

Nonetheless I have also reported the email on here, blocked and deleted it.
i had the same email appear for me. it actually had a password i used to have linked to a bunch of accounts that didn't appear when checking for compromised passwords.
I received the same exact email on 29/11/2020, did they contact you again? Kinda panicking here
I know ..... is one of your password on day of hack..

Lets get directly to the point.

Not one person has paid me to check about you.
You do not know me and you're probably thinking why you are getting this email?
in fact, i actually placed a malware on the adult vids (adult porn) website and you know what, you visited this site to experience fun (you know what i mean).
When you were viewing videos, your browser started out operating as a RDP having a key logger which provided me with accessibility to your display and web cam.

immediately after that, my malware obtained every one of your contacts from your Messenger, FB, as well as email account.

after that i created a double-screen video. 1st part shows the video you were viewing (you have a nice taste omg), and 2nd part displays the recording of your cam, and its you.

Best solution would be to pay me $5369.
We are going to refer to it as a donation. in this situation, i most certainly will without delay remove your video.

My -BTC -address: 1Dyz2vuvqyBXtkbFvQmPAqd7ZLy2v58stE

[case SeNSiTiVe, copy & paste it]

You could go on your life like this never happened and you will not ever hear back again from me.
You'll make the payment via Bitcoin (if you do not know this, search 'how to buy bitcoin' in Google).

if you are planning on going to the law, surely, this e-mail can not be traced back to me, because it's hacked too.
I have taken care of my actions. i am not looking to ask you for a lot, i simply want to be paid.

if i do not receive the bitcoin;, i definitely will send out your video recording to all of your contacts including friends and family, co-workers, and so on.

Nevertheless, if i do get paid, i will destroy the recording immediately.
If you need proof, reply with Yeah then i will send out your video recording to your 8 friends.

it's a nonnegotiable offer and thus please don't waste mine time & yours by replying to this message.
I got this on my schools mail which i only used on my pc, and I don’t have a camera.
Funniest thing is i never use my school mail on my phone where i usually go to the adult stuff
I just received this exact email verbatim. Thanks for posting this. People are so trifling.
same here, i got one with the exact amount and everything
i got this same email today, the exact same sentences, but asking for $1015
I got the exact same email. Verbatim.
I received the exact same email, yesterday. I recognised the password as one my husband used regularly but he died more than 3 years ago. Still, it’s very scary to receive something like this. I spent the day going through all of my most important passwords which probably needed to be done as I’m very lazy about such things. Thank goodness for these kind of sites we can check and report to.
i recently just received that same exact spam email acouple days ago.
I received this exact same email! Pretty much word for word! What did you end up doing????
I had a small panic attack when i first saw it
Got the exact same one word for word. Just reported it. Same situation and very grateful people took the time to write this up and inform the public on where to report it. Just imagine all the people who
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