ALERT! I'm hacked you and stolen you information

[Teknophobe]

I received the below email 3 days ago and have followed all of the instructions at https://www.virginmedia.com/help/security/why-is-my-virgin-media-email-hacked

(I've removed the password and my email address from the below mail  but the password was correct!!!? the email was sent to me from my own email address 😞 ).  I've also forwarded the mail to report phishing at uk gov etc

I've scanned my computer - no malware found, no forwarding instructions ... so how the hell did they get hold of my password?? None of my non VM accounts (with different passwords)  have been hacked (so far).  I know VM had a security breach in 2020 but claimed no passwords were stolen. If they didnt get my password from me .. and I dont think they did, they must have got it from VM?  Fortunately, no damage (so far)  - have you seen anything like this before?

Thanks

Teknophobe

Date: 01 May 2030 at 08:15
Subject: ALERT! I'm hacked you and stolen you information

Hey

I have to share bad news with you.

Approximately few months ago I have gained access to your devices, which you use for internet browsing.
After that, I have started tracking your internet activities.
Some time ago I hacked you and got access to your email accounts

address deleted
Obviously, I have easily hack to log in to your email.

Your password: (deleted)

One week later, I have already installed Trojan virus to Operating Systems of all the devices that you use to access your email.
In fact, it was not really hard at all (since you were following the links from your inbox emails).
All ingenious is simple. 😃
This software provides me with access to all the controllers of your devices (e.g., your microphone, video camera and keyboard).
I have downloaded all your information, data, photos, web browsing history to my servers.
I have access to all your messengers, social networks, emails, chat history and contacts list.
My virus continuously refreshes the signatures (it is driver-based), and hence remains invisible for antivirus software.

Likewise, I guess by now you understand why I have stayed undetected until this letter...

While gathering information about you, I have discovered that you are a big fan of adult websites.
You really love visiting porn websites and watching exciting videos, while enduring an enormous amount of pleasure.
Well, I have managed to record a number of your dirty scenes and montaged a few videos, which show the way you **bleep** and reach orgasms.

If you have doubts, I can make a few clicks of my mouse and all your videos will be shared to your friends, colleagues and relatives.
I have also no issue at all to make them available for public access.
I guess, you really don't want that to happen, considering the specificity of the videos you like to watch, (you perfectly know what I mean) it will cause a true catastrophe for you.

Let's settle it this way:
You transfer $400 USD to me (in bitcoin equivalent according to the exchange rate at the moment of funds transfer), and once the transfer is received, I will delete all this dirty stuff right away.
After that we will forget about each other. I also promise to deactivate and delete all the harmful software from your devices. Trust me, I keep my word.

This is a fair deal and the price is quite low, considering that I have been checking out your profile and traffic for some time by now.
In case, if you don't know how to purchase and transfer the bitcoins - you can use any modern search engine.

Here is my bitcoin wallet: bc1qc7uw3ll3zj83c0jk5cryduns6f3rlju3ac4v6p

Things you need to avoid from doing:
*Do not reply me (I have created this email inside your inbox and generated the return address).
*Do not try to contact police and other security services. In addition, forget about telling this to you friends. If I discover that (as you can see, it is really not so hard, considering that I control all your systems) - your video will be shared to public right away.
*Don't try to find me - it is absolutely pointless. All the cryptocurrency transactions are anonymous.
*Don't try to reinstall the OS on your devices or throw them away. It is pointless as well, since all the videos have already been saved at remote servers.

Things you don't need to worry about:
*That I won't be able to receive your funds transfer.
- Don't worry, I will see it right away, once you complete the transfer, since I continuously track all your activities (my trojan virus has got a remote-control feature, something like TeamViewer).
*That I will share your videos anyway after you complete the funds transfer.
- Trust me, I have no point to continue creating troubles in your life. If I really wanted that, I would do it long time ago!

Everything will be done in a fair manner!

One more thing... Don't get caught in similar kind of situations anymore in future!
My advice - keep changing all your passwords on a frequent basis

[goslow · Accepted solution]

This is a generic template which lots of people have received at some point (including myself).

When a password is quoted it is, most-likely, one that has been harvested from a data leak along with an email address.

Those most vulnerable in this scenario are people who use the same email/password combo across multiple sites.

This site

https://haveibeenpwned.com/

allows you to check email/passwords to see if they have been previously leaked and appear on any known leaked lists.

[Graham_A]

Just to add to the above you can rest assured that the miscreant absolutely does not have any of data/videos that they are claiming to be able to blackmail you with.

[Teknophobe]

Hi Thanks Go Slow. I assumed it was some kind of generic template as the porn stuff doesnt apply to me (I'm way too old for all of that now) 😞

Moral of the story seems to be not to use the same password on different sites ... but that is also a problem for us old geezers. I'm going to have to think about that..

[annorax]

---

@goslow wrote:

This is a generic template which lots of people have received at some point (including myself).

When a password is quoted it is, most-likely, one that has been harvested from a data leak along with an email address.

Those most vulnerable in this scenario are people who use the same email/password combo across multiple sites.

This site

https://haveibeenpwned.com/

allows you to check email/passwords to see if they have been previously leaked and appear on any known leaked lists.

---

I got a similar one a few days ago and they would have a hard time ( no pun intended ) of having videos of me doing that to myself as I've never even owned a webcam or any other video recording device connected to my pc.

I know the email address I get most of those emails from was on the Sony database when they got hacked a few years back.

[Teknophobe]

Thanks all,  good to have some reassurance on this.

[SCA1972]

---

@Teknophobe wrote:

Moral of the story seems to be not to use the same password on different sites ... but that is also a problem for us old geezers. I'm going to have to think about that..

---

A password manager is a good solution for everyone to avoid using the same password on different sites, not just old geezers 😉

In the past I used the free version of Last Pass, but they recently started charging for using it on more than one device. I now use Bitwarden which can be used on multiple devices for free. Even the paid version is only $10 a year.

https://bitwarden.com/

______________________
Scott

My setup: VM TV 360 box, M350 Fibre broadband with Hub 3 in modem mode connected to a Netgear R7000 router. Telewest/VM user since 2001.

[MrHalfAsleep]

➡️Date: 01 May 2030 at 08:15⬅️
Subject: ALERT! I'm hacked you and stolen you information

Hey

I have to share bad news with you.

<TRUNCATED>

Approximately few months ago I have gained access to your devices, which you use for internet browsing.

Some time ago [???? 8 years into the future] I hacked you and got access to your email accounts

<TRUNCATED>

This person is good. Time travel isn't a thing yet.

[Lee_R]

Hi @Teknophobe thanks for posting and welcome to our community.

Thanks for raising your concern regarding your email address.  I thanks our amazing community members for helping reassure you.  Reading the thread, it does appear you now consider the matter resolved?  We're here if you do require our assistance.

Regards

Lee_R

[Bossman2]

Well well well, a lot of people seem to be getting this template don't they, well I have proof that it's internal, it happened to me so all I need to know is the best way forward to report this (do not say the complaints team as they are now based in India and are rubbish).

I personally can't catch the culprit but Virgin will be able to with the info I have because he/she has made a major error when doing it to me plus I'm tech savvy so started doing my own bit of groundwork, reverse lookups etc and because of a mistake they have made with hacking me, I can cast iron say this is internal.

Hoping one of you can point me in the right direction to report this. As I can pinpoint the little rat doing it