ORLANDO, Fla. – Scammers are sending out blackmail emails claiming to have embarrassing videos and demanding payment via Bitcoin in exchange for not sharing the videos to everyone in your contacts.
News 6 Meteorologist Julie Broughton has received several.
The email claimed to have hacked into Julie’s device, threatening to release embarrassing videos unless she paid nearly $2,000 in Bitcoin.
The message was personal, detailed, and unsettling.
“I had a little bit of a moment where my heart stopped because I thought, ‘Is this real?,’ and, ‘What if it is real?’” Broughton said.
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All of the emails had her address, phone number, and one even had a picture of the clubhouse near her home with the words “Look familiar?”
“You picture somebody out on your street snapping photos around your neighborhood, and it kind of creeps you out,” she said.
Webster Green, assistant special agent in charge with the U.S. Secret Service Orlando Field Office, explained that these photos are likely sourced from Google Earth and the information from public records.
Despite this, many people still fall victim.
He warned, “If you do $2,000 in the initial email, then they’ll know, ‘All right, I can go back to him and maybe get more,’ and they keep hitting you again and again,” Green told News 6.
I also received a similar email. After researching it, we found it’s an old scheme that has been revamped.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert back in 2018 about a Bitcoin blackmail scam targeting cheating husbands.
Experts advise not to engage with these emails and to simply delete them.
The scheme isn’t just targeting adults; there’s growing concern about how younger people might react.
“I worry if my daughter, who’s 15, or other kids or young people get that and they would be afraid to tell somebody because they might think it was real and they would get in trouble and they would be scared,” Broughton said.
“The kids fall for it,” Green said. “Unfortunately, they’ve had, you know, teenage suicides from these actions.”
“I feel like I need to have the conversation with her,” Broughton said about her daughter. “‘Hey, look at this email I got. If you ever get something like this, you’re not in trouble. Show me. It’s probably fake, but we’ll figure it out.’”
If you receive such an email, you can report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov.
Remember, don’t fall for the scheme and don’t get ripped off, but If you do, email Louis Bolden at lbolden@wkmg.com.
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