date: Oct 18, 2023, 7:21 AM
subject: Fwd: CONVOCATION
mailed-by: gmail.com
nicolettadellavallefedpoldirec@gmail.com
nicolettadellavallef@gmail.com
EXTORTION SCAM WARNING - PLEASE READ: The email posted above is a typical extortion scam attempting to blackmail the recipient by falsely claiming that their computer has been hacked, infected with malware, or compromised by a trojan virus, a remote access tool, a remote administration tool, or a remote access trojan (RAT). These claims are completely false and should be disregarded.
The email makes baseless allegations, stating that the sender has gained access to your computer and/or your computer’s front-facing camera. The scammer then threatens to expose compromising photos and videos allegedly obtained by hacking your computer. They may also claim that they will send this content to your friends, family, coworkers, and others unless you pay a specified sum, typically in Bitcoin, within a short time frame—usually 24 to 48 hours.
If the extortion email appears to have been sent from your own email address, rest assured that your email account has not been hacked. The scammer is merely using a technique called email spoofing, which allows them to send the scam from their own server while displaying your email address as the sender. Analyzing the full email headers of the extortion scam email would reveal that the email originated from a different IP address and server, not from your own email account.
These types of emails often make additional false claims, such as threatening to expose other personal information or digital content, or even to have you arrested by law enforcement for not complying. Again, these are lies. The scammer may further promise that paying the demanded sum will lead to the immediate deletion of all compromised files and the cessation of future threats. Again, more lies because they aren't really in possession of any of your personal content.
In every instance, the claims made in these emails are entirely fabricated. Your computer has not been compromised by any malware, and the scammer does not have access to any of your personal files, photos, or camera. They are simply attempting to deceive you into paying money to them by bluffing and manipulating your fear.
If you were to send money to the scammer, they would not be able to trace the payment back to you, as Bitcoin transactions are anonymous. As a result, they would have no way of knowing that you were the one who made the payment that was made to their Bitcoin wallet. Moreover, once the payment is made, there would be no way for you to contact the scammer about the payment, and they would likely continue to extort you for additional money if they were even able to identify you as the payer.
If you receive an email like this, do not panic, stress, or respond in any way. These emails are 100% fraudulent. This type of scam, commonly referred to as “ScareWare” or “Sextortion,” relies on fear and deception. Simply delete the email and ignore the scammer. Typically, such emails are sent out randomly to thousands of email addresses, meaning they are not targeting you personally. The scammer likely only has your email address and no other personal information about you.
Another common form of ScareWare involves scammers pretending to be from agencies like the FBI or other law enforcement bodies. They will threaten you with arrest or charges for a fictitious crime unless you send them money. These are also false threats and should be ignored.
In conclusion, don’t let these emails cause you distress. Recognize them for what they are, which are merely fraudulent, empty threats and do not take any action other than deleting the email and ignoring it.
If you want to scan your computer for possible malware or trojans, which is always good to do as a safety precaution, then you can go to https://malwarebytes.com to download, install and run Malwarebytes to perform a free malware check on your computer for any possible presence of malicious software.
Hitman Pro is another software package which offers a fully functional (30-day free trial) anti-malware program that you can also run on your computer and which cleans malware, viruses, trojans, worms, keyloggers, rootkits, trackers, spyware and more. You can download it here: https://hitmanpro.com
If you are interested to see the status of any Bitcoin wallet, and how much money has been recently transferred in and out of the wallet, then go to https://bitref.com/. Once on the website, enter the Bitcoin wallet address from the above email into the box and it will show you a history of the last 50 payments (if any) made in and and out of that Bitcoin wallet.
