“Hello, pervert!” Have you received such a message? Watch out for sextorsion

Sextorsion is one of the phishing methods, i.e. extorting money and private data via fake e-mails. The name of the scam is a combination of the words “sex” and “extortion”. In this case, criminals send the victim a message in which they claim that they have compromising photos or videos and demand a ransom in exchange for not disclosing them.

This is the content of one of the messages that has been circulating on the Internet for several weeks:

Pegasus photo: DM

As experts from CERT Orange Polska note, fraudsters are taking advantage of the fact that for some time now there has been a lot of talk in the media about the Pegasus spy software, thanks to the parliamentary investigative committee,

Since the topic has appeared quite regularly in the media recently, an ordinary Internet user knows that such a program exists and that he can gain access to the victim’s data. The tone and pronunciation of the e-mail are intended to evoke so many emotions in the recipient that they do not have time to think that this whole essay actually makes no sense! Mainly because the tool quoted in the email is strictly “regulated” and its use is so expensive that no one would do it for such – let’s be honest – insignificant purposes.

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In exchange for “silence”, the criminals demand 1,190 euros in bitcoins. Obviously, they do not actually have any material that would discredit us. Such messages are sent en masse to thousands of random people. However, criminals hope that some potential victims actually have something on their conscience and will agree to pay them the ransom.

How to avoid sextorsion? Beware of suspicious emails

It’s not possible. I.e. yes, if we don’t watch pornography. However, we have already talked to people who, even though they did not visit this type of websites, were still concerned whether someone “had something” on them (although then the sender also quoted the victim’s password to one of the websites)! This is proof that the criminals prepared the campaign really well. It is also worth noting that the quoted content is written in flawless Polish. Stylistically, there is basically nothing to complain about!

– emphasizes CERT Orange Polska.

So how do you deal with phishing? First of all, use the Internet wisely. Caution and common sense are the best weapons in the fight against potential threats. Whenever you receive a suspicious e-mail in your inbox, answer five simple questions:

If the answer to any of these questions is “NO”, then do not open the email. Also remember that banks, companies offering online payment services, or social networking sites never send messages to customers asking them to provide login passwords or other sensitive data. If you received such an email, the sender is definitely a scammer.

Do you have doubts? Does something trigger emotions in you? Be aware that this may be a social engineering trick. Nobody installed Pegasus for you. Even if someone is watching you through the camera in one of your devices (this may happen), it is not with the intention of catching you in flagranti. A clever guy on the Internet simply sent the same email to perhaps even tens of thousands of people, hoping that someone would believe him.

– emphasize experts from CERT Orange Polska.