BlacklistChainGot a sextortion email demanding Bitcoin? Here is what to do
An email says you were recorded and demands Bitcoin? It is a mass scam. Learn how it works, check the Bitcoin address, and what to do instead of paying.
The email says your device was hacked, that you were filmed through your webcam, and that the video will go to your contacts unless you pay in Bitcoin, usually within 48 hours. It may even show one of your real passwords. It is a bulk scam: the same message is sent to millions of people, and the sender has no video.
How the scam works
- Scammers buy email addresses and old passwords leaked in public data breaches. Showing you a real password makes the threat look real.
- They may forge the "From" line so the email seems to come from your own address. That doesn't mean they are in your account.
- Each campaign uses one or a few Bitcoin addresses. Searching that address often shows it has been reported many times.
What to do
- Don't pay and don't reply. Paying marks you as someone who pays, and often brings more demands.
- Check the Bitcoin address in the BlacklistChain address check. Many sextortion wallets are already listed.
- Change the password shown in the email anywhere you still use it, and turn on two-factor authentication. Have I Been Pwned shows which breaches leaked your email.
- Report it to your email provider as phishing, and to the police (in the US, IC3; in the UK, Action Fraud).
- Report the Bitcoin address here so the next person who searches it sees the warning.
When it might be real
If someone you actually talked to has real images of you and is threatening to share them, that is a different and serious crime. Don't pay. Keep the messages and contact the police. In the US, the Take It Down service helps remove images of people who were under 18.
Questions
- Did the hacker really record me?
- In mass sextortion emails, no. The same text goes to millions of addresses. The password shown comes from an old data breach.
- The email came from my own address. Was I hacked?
- Not necessarily. The sender line of an email is easy to forge. Change your password if you are unsure.
- Should I pay to make it stop?
- No. There is no video, and paying usually brings more demands.