Hey everyone, I'm feeling really anxious and need some advice. I received a terrifying email that claims to have hacked into my devices and recorded me watching adult content. They're demanding $1650 in Bitcoin, threatening to send explicit videos to my contacts if I don't pay within 48 hours. What freaked me out is that the email appears to be from my own address, which made it feel more legitimate.
They also claim that I clicked on a malicious link that installed a Trojan virus, allegedly giving them access to my camera and microphone. They even provided a Bitcoin wallet and warned me not to contact anyone or reinstall my system.
I haven't clicked any links in the email or replied, and even though I might have visited some sketchy sites, I didn't interact with anything harmful and use VirusTotal for all downloads. Still, I'm really shaken up about this whole situation, especially since I'm only 15.
I've already taken some steps like changing my email password, checking if my email has been compromised, doing a full malware scan, and enabling two-factor authentication.
Thanks for any guidance!
3 Answers
This is just a phishing scam. They don't have anything on you, and this tactic is a common way to scare people into paying. Ignore them and definitely don't make any payments! If your virus scan came back clean, you're probably in the clear. You could also check the raw email header to see if it's spoofed; tools like ChatGPT can help analyze that.
This type of email is super common, even the BBC wrote about it! The emails often use old data, like passwords that have leaked in the past, to make the threat seem real. Just ignore it as long as you've taken precautions with your passwords and system. You're doing fine!
Yeah, they did mention an old password of mine.
Honestly, I haven't even read half your post, but it's definitely a scam. Anyone can alter the sender's email address. These emails are sent out to tons of people, aiming to panic you into action without thinking. If they had something on you, they'd show it instead of just making vague threats. Take a breath and realize they don't have anything substantial.
My passwords are similar across multiple accounts; I want to avoid this in the future. Is there a way to generate complex, unique passwords easily?
Thanks a lot, I appreciate it! Yeah, the scan came back clean.