There is a new twist on a sextortion email scam, as police in Connecticut are warning about cyberthieves adding more personal information to lure victims.
The scammers are looking to steal their targets’ money by threatening to expose sex acts they say were caught on camera.
“The person who sent the email has video of the potential victim, performing a sexual act in front of their camera, in front of their web cam on their computer,” said Sgt. Steven Perrotta, the supervisor of the financial crimes unit in Stamford. “It gives the person’s name and a photo or a picture of their address or a picture map of their address.”
Stamford police posted a link to the cyber security blog Krebs on Security, with a screenshot of an email that contains multiple threats:
- “Well, You’ve been a bit careless lately, scrolling through those filthy videos and venturing into the darker corners of cyberspace”
- “I’ve got footage of you doing embarrassing things in your room (nice setup, by the way)”
- “Oh, and I’ve got access to all your emails, contacts and social media accounts too”
- “With just a click, I can send this filth to every single of your contacts”
The email warns the target that all if will be released online unless they pay up within 24 hours.
“They ask for a little bit in the beginning, maybe to make that person more likely to give because they’re saying to themselves, ‘Well it’s not a lot of money, just in case, let me send a little bit of money,'” said Perrotta. “And then once the scammers know that they have the person on the hook, they’ll continue to ask for more money and increasing in value.”
Police point out that names and addresses can be easily available to scammers, and suggest looking for red flags that could indicate it is a scam.
“You can sometimes find spelling errors, problems with grammar, those are indicators that it’s not true but also anything unsolicited, you should be wary of,” Perrotta said.
Also recommended by police: Blocking webcams when not in use.
Anyone who gets a suspicious threatening email is asked to contact Stamford police.
