Nasty blackmail scam

[jefmcg]

Onliner Spambot, which sounds a bit sinister.

Honestly, you'd be more special if you weren't on that database

https://www.troyhunt.com/inside-the-massive-711-million-record-onliner-spambot-dump/

 

[Salar]

Apparently I'm also on Anti Public Combo list, I'm in good company though over 800 milion on that one.

 

[welsh dragon]

It's possible to get rid of the ransomware.

At thaf time i didn't think i had any choice but to bin my tablet. Couldnt't get past the blank sceeen. Oh well.

 

[classic33]

At thaf time i didn't think i had any choice but to bin my tablet. Couldnt't get past the blank sceeen. Oh well.

You still have it though?

 

[welsh dragon]

You still have it though?

No. I binned it.

 

[Blue Hills]

It's always worthwhile donning a balaclava before watching porn for this very reason.
.

Thanks for making me smile/the useful tip.

I do know someone from the cycling community whose FB profile featured a pic of them in a gas mask and, as I remember, a forward facing trunk of some sort.

 

[Blue Hills]

For entirely unrelated reasons, I wiped my Mac and reinstalled everything recently. That should do a fairly decent job of getting rid of any nasties.

However, unless you also change your passwords at the same time, they might still have a means of getting to you...

Chromebooks as I understand it are especially good for this. You can wipe the things and reinstall the operating system in less time than you would spend with a PC just vaguely thinking about the process. Folks feel free to correct me.

edit - posted on a Chromebook which cost me all of £99 new - OK, maybe something between £99 and £100.

 

[Levo-Lon]

CIA guy wanted 1200 dollars to lose my nasty web evidence..

3 in tota all from different addresses but same scam.

I just use the block facility,and that seems to stop them until the next scam.

LinkedIn scams and iTunes are favourite even tho I don't have account

 

[Tin Pot]

Has anyone else been sent an email saying you clicked on a porn site and they filmed you via your webcam having a Barclays Bank, give us $2500 in Bitcoin or we email it to your friends and family and post it on Facebook? I've received two. The alarming thing was that they had my computer password in the title. It was not the password to my email account or Facebook account, but since I've set most my web accounts to remember my various passwords, I wondered whether it was possible to remote desk into my PC and open them. I don't think my router's firewall will allow it, but I don't really know enough about it. I suppose they could not really do that while I was at my PC because I'd notice my mouse moving around on its own and clicking on things. I don't know how they got the password. It was an old one, which I have changed now. I read somewhere that lots of personal information was lost via security breaches.

As others have said, they’re just playing back an old password they found through some other data breach, at you to freak you out into paying.

I often wonder how this blackmail conversation goes:

Them: Give us money or we send your autoerotic video to your mum and employer

You: So, you’re counting on them being surprised that men and women masturbate?

Them: Think of the shame and embarrassment as they watch you!

You: So you think my mum and employer *want* to watch me masturbate?

Them: You will lose your job!

You: So...etc.


It’s only the people who masturbate in the office, at their desk that worry me. Or at my desk I suppose!

 

[jamin100]

The https://haveibeenpwned.com/ site pushes 1password as software to generate and store strong passwords. I have not used that software but I do notice that you have to pay for it.

An alternative that I use is KeePass (https://keepass.info/index.html) which is free. There are clients for Windows, Linux and Android.

It will generate strong passwords and you can choose to store the database in Google Drive so the same database is available across devices (so long as you have Google Drive installed on those devices). Google Drive is password protected and the database is further protected by encryption and a master password. You only have to remember that one master password which should be long and complex and memorable, e.g. I.Really.Like.Techno.Music!

Using this software means that my passwords are unique to each account that I have and they are also randomly generated; here's an example I generated for this post: :E0v"rZNu?K!zaZfE^'e

You do not need to know what they are (I never look). The application allows you to look up an entry by account name (e.g. "Cyclechat" or "Amazon"), have the password copied to your clipboard and then pasted into a website or app.

Yup - until Keepass (lastpass, 1password {enter any password remembering service here }) get hacked and then all your passwords are available to all

 

[MossCommuter]

Yup - until Keepass (lastpass, 1password {enter any password remembering service here }) get hacked and then all your passwords are available to all

Naturally this is true but in the case of KeePass, at least, that would mean first hacking Google Drive to get the database file and then hacking the master-key encryption to read it.

Reasonably secure I think.

 

[Cavalol]

My wife’s mate had this and was very worried.
Appreciate it’s a scam, but imho the best way to deal with blackmailers is to tell them to crack on and post up whatever they have, as you will refuse to give them a single penny.
Easier said than done, but you’d never be able to trust someone who blackmailed you anyhow.

 

[TheDoctor]

My partner received such an email. I'm looking forward to getting the video

 

[Inertia]

Yup - until Keepass (lastpass, 1password {enter any password remembering service here }) get hacked and then all your passwords are available to all

and in the case of lastpass the passwords are encrypted so would be of no use

 

[Brandane]

Has anyone else been sent an email saying you clicked on a porn site and they filmed you via your webcam having a Barclays Bank, give us $2500 in Bitcoin or we email it to your friends and family and post it on Facebook?

Yes. I just paid up and so far they've kept to their word.