On each coasts of Canada, residents are receiving “unnerving” letters demanding $1,900 in bitcoin or threat having their nudes and soiled browser historical past despatched to their family members.
Whereas these bitcoin sextortion scams are nothing new, fraudsters are actually utilizing Google Maps streetview to idiot victims into pondering that scammers have been standing exterior their properties.
“It’s very unnerving, it’s very upsetting,” one Ontario lady instructed CTV Information. “They had my name, address, email, cell phone and a picture of the street on which my home is.”
York Regional Police (YRP) have lately warned these within the Larger Toronto area that fraudsters are more and more utilizing publicly obtainable data to seem respectable. Passwords, addresses, telephone numbers, social media accounts, and extra are all simply discovered if victims had been a part of a third-party information breach, for instance.
Certainly, with out including these particulars, bitcoin sextortion letters can learn like they had been despatched by your annoying little nephew.
Learn extra: Hong Kong busts crypto rip-off that used AI deepfakes to create ‘superior women’
“I suggest you read this message carefully,” reads one letter shared by the YRP. “Take a moment to chill, breathe, and analyze it thoroughly. ‘Cause we’re about to discuss a deal between you and me, and I ain’t playing games.”
Some sentences even learn just like the lyrics of a tune (that might slap). “Yeah, Yeah, I’ve got footage of you doing filthy things in your room (nice setup, by the way).”
In line with a spokesperson for the North Vancouver RCMP, all reported bitcoin sextortion threats have fortunately been empty.
“So far, from all the victims that we’ve had, [the suspects] have not provided any images of the victim, so it’s just merely them saying that they have images,” (through North Shore Information).
What’s extra, it looks like victims aren’t simply satisfied by these letters. Protos examined a bitcoin tackle despatched to a number of sextortion victims, which confirmed zero transactions and a steadiness of $0.
That mentioned, anybody who receives these messages are suggested to brush their gadgets for malware, instantly report the incident to native police, and to by no means ship a dime.
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