​Online Extortion Scam Prompts Warning From Bucks County Authorities

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Bucks County Crimes Against Older Adults Task Force is warning residents to be aware of a prevalent online extortion scam that is finding its way into email inboxes across the nation.

According to the task force, threatening emails are being sent nationwide claiming that they have caught the computer user visiting adult content websites and have compromising pictures taken from their device's camera. The email also includes your phone number and address, which can be alarming.

"Don’t panic and rest assured, this is 100 percent a scam and a fraudulent e-mail, which should not be interacted with or responded to in any way," said task force officials. "The e-mail then threatens to release the compromising photos and videos they claim to have captured from your webcam if you don’t immediately comply and deposit a sum of money to a specific Bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet address."

Anyone who receives the scam message as SPAM/JUNK should delete it. It can also be reported to the FTC through its fraud reporting form at: www.reportfraud.ftc.gov . Anyone who has fallen victim to the scam should report it to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center through www.ic3.gov .

According to the FBI's 2023 Crime Report, these types of “extortion” scams were reported more than 48,000 times. They can take various forms from an email claiming possession of compromising photos or videos collected through a consumer’s webcam to “romance scams” where a lonely consumer connects to the scam artist through a dating site and is then guilted, pressured, or simply extorted into sending money to the scam artist for as long as they can keep them on the hook.

"In today's information age, it's easy to find anyone's name, address, and email online," says the task force. "If your email provider has a 'report scam' function or button in your inbox, you can use it and the email will be removed automatically for the email provider to investigate in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission who now works directly with Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) to weed out these scams, and help lessen the amount of these pervasive fraudulent e-mails from making their way to your inbox."

Unfortunately, the task force said the scam artists buy large amounts of data on the dark web, which may be comprised of data gathered over the years from various sources including data breaches, public records, and other scams where your data was compromised.

"Having a profile for a person to include their name, address, phone number, and e-mail address is not difficult for a scam artist to accomplish, but to the average person seeing this information combined and outlined in a threatening letter attached to an email can be very alarming to most consumers," said the task force.

"This is exactly the response the scam artist is hoping for - to alarm you and in that reaction of fear and potential panic they hope you aren’t thinking clearly and will simply comply with their request to extort money or cryptocurrency from you to avoid any embarrassment."

The task force continues, "We cannot reiterate strongly enough to not interact with the message in any way other than to report it as spam/junk and delete it from your inbox."

Below are a few red flags to help consumers recognize these fraudulent messages as well as some tips to protect yourself.

Red flags

• The scammer does not provide details about what site you supposedly visited.
• The scammer does not offer evidence to prove they have the information they claim.
• The scammer requests an urgent ransom be paid in gift cards, bitcoin or wire transfer.
• Messages include grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and a window of time in which to comply.

Protect Yourself

• When speaking to someone online, search their name to see if it’s reported to have been used in a prior scam or if it’s the name of a famous person. Read the FTC article with tips to recognize and avoid romance scams.
• Never send compromising images of yourself to anyone, no matter who they are — or who they say they are.
• No matter what the email threatens, do not respond and delete the email.
• Do not open attachments or click links in emails from people or companies you do not know. Doing so leaves you vulnerable to phishing, identity theft, and malware.
• Never send money in any form, gift cards, or crypto, to comply with the demands in the email.
• Do a security check on your computer and install security software.
• Enable two-factor authentication on your important accounts such as banking to prevent unauthorized access without a unique code sent to your phone upon each login.
• Change passwords often and consider using a trusted password manager such as Google or Apple to ensure your passwords are strong and unique.
• Cover your webcam when not in use to give you peace of mind.

Check to see if your email was compromised in a security breach by visiting this link and change passwords as necessary.