Extorted for watching porn? Do’s and Dont's to avoid sextortion
You receive an email from an unknown person who claims that he has video recorded you in a compromising position and he also has all your contact records to which he will send out those dirty videos. He then asks you to cough up some money to keep his mouth shut. You panic, probably give in to his demands of a particular sum of money in the hope that he will stay quiet about the same. You then relax and think the matter is closed.
Well, it probably did not start in the first place. You were scammed.
If you have paid up any money, the scamster is happy, while you are still tensed about his next possible action as you don’t have enough proof if he has really deleted that video.
Well, as mentioned earlier, he has probably scammed you and cheated you of some free money. In most cases, these scamsters are actually harmless and don’t even have any actual data to extort you.
Extorting users for watching porn is not entirely new. A few months ago, there were emails spreading across to millions of people around the world, which had almost identical statements as stated above. The scamster is basically fishing for prey and the victim who gets fooled ends up giving him the money he asked for.
Scamsters are simply scaring people that they have managed to steal your porn browsing history and that they have recorded a video of you, either naked, masturbating or having sex, using the laptop’s camera. They state that they hacked into your PC and monitored your actions, simultaneously recording your activities. They also mentioned that during the hack, they have also managed to get your entire contact list, using which they will shame you in front of your friends by sending out your alleged video. While this could be a possibility, most cases are usually scams. The same scam is presently seeing a high rise in Australia and a few other countries around the world.
Scamsters send out mass emails to a mailing list they must have probably got their hands on from the dark web. These lists are available for just a few dollars, and using the email addresses, they send out scam emails. These emails are simply sent across to scare people and bullying them into parting from their money. And you could be a victim if you are have been naked, masturbating or having sex in front of your open laptop. However, there are thousands of posts from elderly users who claim to have received such emails, and state that they don’t even watch porn.
If you receive such emails, you could plainly ignore it, mark it as spam or add a rule to delete it automatically. However, such emails should actually not be taken lightly. If you are frequently getting such emails, you should immediately report it to your local authorities. But to be even more assured, you should not be in a worrying position in the first place. d privacy settings in place.
