Warning Issued by National Anti-Scam Centre for Bulk Email Extortion Attempts
In a concerning development, sextortion scams are on the rise, targeting individuals with threatening emails that claim to have access to compromising images and videos. These scams have become increasingly prevalent, with hundreds of reports in recent times.
The FBI issued a warning in 2023 about the use of generative AI tools to create deepfakes or "deepnudes" in sextortion scams. However, most of these campaigns do not utilize deepfakes or deepnudes, instead relying on empty threats to publish explicit photos.
The Australian Government's National Anti-Scam Centre has reported that criminals are emailing people, falsely claiming to have hacked into their Outlook, MSN, Hotmail, or Gmail accounts and have access to compromising images and videos. It's important to note that there is no evidence that the scammers who send these emails have access to your webcam or computer.
The personal details contained in the emails, such as birth dates and addresses, are most likely from previous public data breaches. Cybercriminals use cryptocurrency platforms for anonymous transactions in these scams, making it less likely for the transactions to be recouped or reversed.
Satnam Narang, Senior Staff Research Engineer at Tenable, stated that extortion doesn't only apply to businesses dealing with ransomware attacks, but individuals are also targeted, especially due to the increased usage of smartphones and social media platforms coupled with the rise in sexting amongst young adults.
Narang also added that the success of these scams is compounded by the fact that cybercriminals are leveraging stolen data obtained through the plethora of data breaches that include sensitive information on potential victims, such as their home address, phone number, birth date, and other details.
To avoid falling victim to these scams, the National Anti-Scam Centre advises not to respond to or pay money in sextortion emails. Users should not engage with cybercriminals making sextortion threats and should ignore them. To thwart the potential threat of deepfakes or deepnudes being created, users should consider restricting their social media profiles to friends and family.
Information on how to avoid scams after a data breach is available on the Australian Government's Scamwatch website. It's crucial to stay vigilant and protect your personal information to avoid becoming a target of these scams.
Read also:
- Strengthening Defense against Multi-faceted menaces in the Age of Authority-driven Technology
- Industries Under Jeopardy Due to Multi-Accounting: Prevention Strategies Revealed in 2024
- Web3 Esports undergoes transformation as Aylab and CreataChain collaborate for a radical change
- Latest Tech Highlights: Top Gadgets of March 2025
