I received an email that appeared to come from my own address. It claims the sender recorded me watching pornography and demands money, threatening that I have only two days after opening the email to pay. There were no screenshots, video clips, or other evidence attached. I did have Trojan malware on my computer about a month ago, but I completely reinstalled Windows afterward. Gmail also shows nothing suspicious in my Sent folder. Could this still be a real compromise, or is it a standard scam?
3 Answers
The deadline is just pressure tactics. These messages are usually sent in bulk and often mention alleged recordings, cryptocurrency payments, and embarrassing activity without providing any evidence. Ignore the instructions, avoid opening attachments or links, and report the message through your email provider.
This is a very common extortion scam. The sender can spoof your address so the message looks like it came from you without actually accessing your Gmail account. If they genuinely had a recording, they would usually include some proof instead of sending a generic threat. Don’t pay, don’t reply, and mark the email as spam or phishing.
The empty Sent folder is a good sign, but you should still secure the account: change your password to a unique one, enable two-step verification, review recent login activity, and remove any unfamiliar third-party access. Since you reinstalled Windows, make sure the system and security software are fully updated too.
The confusing part was how they made it look like the message came from my address. I’ll check the account activity and enable two-step verification.