Stuff that occurs to me

All of my 'how to' posts are tagged here. The most popular posts are about blocking and private accounts on Twitter, also the science communication jobs list. None of the science or medical information I might post to this blog should be taken as medical advice (I'm not medically trained).

Think of this blog as a sort of nursery for my half-baked ideas hence 'stuff that occurs to me'.

Contact: @JoBrodie Email: jo DOT brodie AT gmail DOT com

Science in London: The 2018/19 scientific society talks in London blog post

Showing posts with label sextortion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sextortion. Show all posts

Sunday, 3 May 2026

More 'sextortion' spam from person pretending to be Shiny Hunters asking for bitcoin - ignore

In my spam mailbox today - 

Note: It is actually true that Shiny Hunters (the real ones) gained access to the parent company (Carnival) of the Holland America cruise I went on eleven years ago (and I have had an increase in spam since then) but the rest of the email follows the exact same pattern as other spam emails that try to extract bitcoin from people. It just comes from some random having a go.

If you get one of these you can delete it / ignore it and report the bitcoin wallet to Chain Abuse. In the UK you can send it to Action Fraud.

- - - - -

From: You've been HACKED <fxuzn@na.commufa.jp>   <-- note it's possible that this is an entirely innocent email address that has been exploited, but I've included it for completeness.
Subject: Information about your online security

Hello,

We are the ShinyHunters hacking group.
A few months ago, we gained access to your devices and started monitoring your online activities.

What happened:
We gained access to the Carnivalcorp.com database where you have an account and easily accessed your email.
You weren't very careful about the links you opened.
A week later, we installed an exploit on your devices, including your phone, giving us access to your microphone,
camera, keyboard, and all your data.
We have your photos, browsing history, conversations, and contact list.

Among other things, we discovered that you frequently visit adult websites and watch explicit videos.
We managed to record you and created videos of you pleasuring yourself.
With a few clicks, we can share these videos with your friends,
colleagues, and family or even make them public.

Proposal:
Send us $2000 in Bitcoin to the following wallet:
bc1qzuk2m6hvt7cnu49mhwxhcx26d4gz0vsak6vdva

We'll delete everything immediately.
You have 48 hours from the moment you open this email.
Once the payment is received, we'll remove the malware from your devices.

What you should NOT do:
Do not reply (email was sent from a hacked account).
Do not contact the police or anyone else—we'll release the videos along with other stuff all over the internet.
Do not try to reset your devices—everything is stored on remote servers.

What you don’t need to worry about:
We will see your payment immediately—the wallet is generated specifically for you.
We will not share your videos or other things after payment—there is no reason to continue causing problems.

Don't play with us!
REF# : 89949

Wednesday, 3 July 2024

Another 'sextortion' Bitcoin scam email - these are sent out randomly, do not pay them anything

Another one of these spam / scam emails in my spam folder in Gmail (see my previous post). 

They are sent out to long lists of email addresses and have nothing to do with you personally. Ignore them, do not send money. I just publish these in case others google some text from the email. I hope they find this (or another scam awareness page) and are reassured that it's nonsense.

I have reported the Bitcoin wallet (1KSb6ZYjXjP5aGyMf6LDfmad5rsC7fV73J) here too: https://www.chainabuse.com/

- - - - -

From: clifford@audumi.lv
Subject: Amount of taxes

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

I'VE GAINED ACCESS TO YOUR DEVICES DUE TO YOUR VISITS TO CERTAIN WEBSITES.
In fact, it was those sites that helped me. One of them contained my special code, which worked. This means that I can see everything happening on your scr and in front of it.

IF YOU DOUBT THIS, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.
I'm not wasting my time on you and will simply post all this information about you on every possible website and social network, and send it to all your contacts.

I've made copies of your most interesting files and also have the contact addresses you use most often. I have your browsing history. I have everything I need. Initially, I was going to delete all the content from your devices and forget about it. But I looked at the sites you regularly visit and changed my mind. I'm talking about sites with all kinds of inappropriate content.

After some time, I had an idea. I took screenshots of the website pages where you spend your time alone. then I captured screenshots of you satisfying yourself using the cam of one of your deviecs. (by the way, I had to wait for you to successfully get in front of the canera lens.) But it was worth it, and it will impress all your acquaintances and regular people on the Internet.

To make a long story short, I'm offering you a DEAL. You transfer the money to me, and I'll delete all this stuff about you, and we will forget about each other.

1194 american dollars in Bitconis is fine with me.
My special wallet: 1KSb6ZYjXjP5aGyMf6LDfmad5rsC7f
V73J

I give you only 44 hours from now to pay .
I've already mentioned what happens if you don't pay, I don't care, it's up to you.
And don't hold a grudge. Everyone has a job to do.

IF I SEE THE CONTENTS OF THIS EMAIL ON GOOGLE (etc.)
I WILL IMMEDIATELY PUBLISH ALL THE DATA COLLECTED,
NOT FORGETTING EVERYONE YOU KNOW.