The Directorate of Cybercrime (DDEO) draws the attention of citizens, as fraudsters are trying to deceive them by sending emails with extortionate content.
In particular, as the UNODC reports, there have recently been reported cases of an international scam known as «sextortioncam“, which is manifested by sending mass emails to various recipients, regardless of their gender and age, in order to scare them and then extort money from them. These messages contain a text in Greek with the subject: ”Your data was hacked» or «Open and read this letter».
According to the PPO, unknown perpetrators using fraudulent email accounts are sending mass emails informing users that their information system has been compromised and that all their data has been copied to their servers. At the same time, they inform them that malware has been installed, which activates the camera and records the victim in private moments.
The perpetrators then report that the malware collected all the user's contacts from social media and his personal email account. Thus, using blackmail tactics, they demand that the victim deposit in a digital wallet and in the form of Bitcoin cryptocurrency the equivalent of one thousand euros within fifty hours.
The attempt to blackmail victims by threatening to publish erotic content depicting the victim is internationally referred to as “sexual blackmail - sextortion”.
The PPO proposes the following to the recipients of these fraudulent and extortionate messages:
- Do not respond to such emails.
- Never communicate with the blackmailers for any reason whatsoever.
- Ignore the message and do not deposit money into the accounts listed.
- Do not open any attachments to emails from unknown senders.
- Immediately change any account passwords they consider compromised.
- Evaluate the security settings of their computer.
