I got one of these last year and just laughed. It did not have a street view screenshot, which is a new level of sophistication and which could make it seem more real to many people. I'm glad you're spreading the word.
It’s a very trivial level of sophistication that anyone could figure out in minutes with ChatGPT. It’s also dumb because if you had footage of a person, you’d send a screen shot from that video, not the outside of their house lol
I'm just baffled how some people are still falling for this. Even my 75 year old mom knows all about it. Second, this is exactly where AI would be the greatest help to recognize patterns in these mass email companions and shut the server down immediately.
Instead they are using AI to make Mickey-Mouse faces and other useless stuff. Pattern recognition in email content would be the most beneficial to shut these down within seconds. smh
My wife got this. I work in IT, she was freaking out for days, I told her it was a scam and to report it as such. She was still on edge for a few days, thanks, for the video. I watched this with her and it calmed her down. And she's like you're right! I told her I'd bet her $1000 and then $10000 that nothing would happen. I think this also calmed her down because she knows how much it's hard for me to throw money away.
After data leaks in Poland, the government created an online service to block criminals from taking out loans, opening accounts, or signing phone contracts in your name. You just need to switch one option in the mobile app with our e-ID. The law also requires all companies to check this. Other countries should create something like this to not rely on multiple credit bureaus.
@@jakubjoniec they should, but the USA is weak as hell on this. For example: freezing credit should be via a single portal but instead we just jump through hoops to freeze our credit.
@@patty109109 Not really. You just have to go to the 3 credit bureaus and freeze your credit individually with all 3. Took me less than 15minutes to do that with all 3.
I got this email and figured it was a scam. But I'm worried for other people who may fall for this. I remember hearing about a young kid who was blackmailed into sending money, and they ended up taking their own life. This is a serious crime and I hope the perpetrators are caught and handed stiff sentences. Thank you so much ThioJoe for covering this topic, we need to spread this message around so everyone knows the truth!!
@@panzerofthelake4460so a kid dies and you're asking about what the kid's hiding? That's none of your business. What's wrong with you? Why don't you show some respect for the victim?
@@panzerofthelake4460 It's sextortion, that's what is it. They said they'd post his nudes all over the Internet. It's not about what he's "trying to hide", other than his own privacy. It's an incredibly common scam sadly.
Good luck. They’re in India, Pakistan, Russia, or some Eastern European country where the police don’t care. Only occasionally arresting some for show.
Tragically, there are cases where people saw this type of scam, freaked out, and took their own lives. Another reason why educating the public about what's really going on is important.
@@xonx209 No. They mostly belonged to cultures with a high degree of shame around any sexual impropriety, where sending supposed nudes or compromising images of someone to that person's family could lead to serious harm.
I got a similar email a few years ago. I was VERY concerned. It contained a genuine password which added authenticity. Then I realised I don't have a webcam so it must be a bluff. Now I get them every week and I just laugh.
The likely hacked some site where you used that password and downloaded all the email addresses, passwords, and whatever other info the site had, then as ThioJoe said, had some script spam everyone an email. As long as you never use your email password for anything else and the password, they list in the email text isn't your email password then you're good. You just need to go to whatever site where you used that password and change it.
I got a letter like this once, claiming they caught me doing some "nasty things" on my webcam and threatening to expose me unless I sent them Bitcoin. So, I replied from an alternate account, saying, "Go ahead, send it out! I'm already on several of those naughty websites. You’ll just be helping me get more exposure-thanks for the free publicity!" Believe it or not, they actually replied back with, "Sorry, wrong person. Bye." I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair! Whenever you get something like this, just play it off and they’ll disappear, especially if they’ve got nothing. And honestly, you shouldn’t give a damn. If you’re gonna do something nasty on your webcam, be proud of it!
@@lukeskywalker2 No, it was literally directed to me, name and everything..... I have multiple accounts to prevent spam and everything, but the odd chance they get in.
@@marcus_cole_2 I think they mean the email it was sent from (either hacked or spoofed) The "from" email is usually displayed as one of three: - your own email address (trying to make you believe they hacked your email account) - a hacked email - a fictitious email which will bounce if replied to.
i was more impressed how they hacked my non existent webcam on my computer, or how they were able to somehow ook through my phone's webcam when i always cover it , man these guys are GOOD ........LMAO .
i actually had one like this around the start/middle of august. it did frighten me as it did in fact seem to be from myself. same pfp and same email address. they threatened to leak the exact same kinda videos if i didnt give them their bitcoin within 48 hours. problem was, microsoft outlook sent this to my junk folder so it wasn't until 2 weeks after it was sent that i saw it. safe to say the hacker was bluffing. also, in hindsight, it was very likely spoofed as a friend suggested and as i thought.
If you get an email that looks like it came from yourself, check the message header. They can spoof the From field, but I have not yet seen where scammers can spoof the information in the message header and buried in the header is the server and email address it actually originated from.
I got that one too (and sadly fell for it) Did it start with “hello pervert” or something? I was changing my anti-anxiety meds when it came through so was already on edge at the time adjusting to the new meds. Plus I didn’t know email spoofing existed either. Had I not been changing meds at that stage I probably wouldn’t have fallen for it. I hate to imagine how many people have fallen for it.
The scam text I got (along these same lines) had my ACTUAL social security number in it. Of course I know 99% of the SSNs are all available on the black market, but it was still disconcerting to have a blackmailer show me such sensitive info. Thankfully, I know I've NEVER taken a nude picture of myself, so the threats were impotent. I kept the scammer going back and forth for about a half hour and demanded to see EVEN ONE PIC to prove his statements, but they couldn't and finally gave up. I screen capped the whole thing and look at it when I need a good laugh.
I got that scam a few years back. The hilarious thing is they were claiming to have all this video of me from my computer's camera, but my computer does not have a build in web cam, I have to plug in an external USB camera when I want a facecam for meetings, so LOL, yeah, right. I also don't visit sketchy sites anyways, so again, yeah right.
Second the motion. I just laughed because in nearly 40 years of PC use, I've never bought a setup with either a camera or a microphone installed. Besides which, I'm old enough now that even if I did visit some porn site, I wouldn't be capable of putting on any kind of a show for anyone to be scandalized about.
A few years back I got one with an old password of mine in the subject line, one that I retired about two decades ago. Must have used it on IRC back in the day, or something else that wasn't so secure. Same bit, said they had me on webcam doing shady stuff, and of course I'm on a desktop without a camera of any kind. It did creep me out for a day or two, but I knew it was some automated form-letter style scam. Trying to take me for about two grand in Bitcoin.
Same. My computers don’t not have a built in cam. They did put in there what webcam I use, but it’s a USB microscope and says so in the name. I read it about 6 months after it was sent because it was caught in the junk folder and saw it when I went to clean it out. Even had the password I used 10 years prior.
I've had this kind of email twice now and it's supposedly about filming me having an exciting time at a porn site and they were going to email the film to everyone i my contact list. I've mentioned this to a couple of people I know and asked them to forward a video of me having a good time because I'd love to see it!
I got one of these a year or two ago. I'm over 70yo, but with a career in telecommunications. Aside from the fact that my lounge tower PC has no camera, and my bedroom laptop camera has been taped over since I bought it, there is the question of why, if they had access to my computer/s, did they not just harvest keystrokes to get my bank account and password, and transfer themselves money without the bother of email scamming? LOL! Ignored it.
It just depends, local authorities like councils can go to Google and ask to stop blurring anything other than licence plates and faces as they use this to look at city assets and determine where to upgrade.
I got one of these too. Not amusing, but I noticed the scammer thought it was a good idea to spoof my email to make it seem believable. Now I have an email rule called "Stop Spoofing Yourself" to deal with those emails. Now THAT is amusing.
You shouldn't open an attachment in a suspicious email or an email you were not expecting. Opening an attachment could infect your computer with malware
Exactly. In the beginning, when he said you get an email message with your name and address and an attached PDF file, opening the PDF file is mistake #1. lol *sigh*
Got one that claimed to have a tracking pixel to know I opened it, except it was sent to my Proton, which protects against those, and better yet, there were no images to begin with-the "tracking pixel" was a period in the body of the email lol. That said, it's still scary how plausible the threat seems to anyone that's not up to date on the latest scams, data breaches, advancements in AI & automation, etc. Thanks for spreading the word.
Thanks for reporting, I knew it was a scam. I simply was curious to see how many people were affected by this horrible practice. Ive gotten 4 of the same emails already.
Got two of these in the last week. I don't use my real name for online orders, so I got a very personalized threat to a person that doesn't exist. The photo of my house from Google Maps wasn't even my house. Then the ramblings around visiting adult sites on my phone (that only does calls and texts) and referring to the 2009 iMac in my bedroom a "nice setup" just made the whole thing even more hilarious. At the end of the day, though, blackmail doesn't work without proof of whatever "scandalous" video you claim to have. If you can't produce the embarrassing video for _me_ to see, then I'm sure you can't produce it for all my contacts either. But I guess that's the beauty of using a bot to pump out infinite e-mails thousands at a time; you're bound to get a few people who panic and don't think it through.
It's getting around here in Australia as I've got one just recently...... scared the hell out of me initially as I have never received anything like this before!...... thanks Joe for clarifying. 😊
This is really old and well known. They’ve been doing the “we have cam footage of you” for blackmail thing for like 15 years. Adding on a street view image of your address is just funny. If you had footage of me, you’d send me screen caps of me. Yes, people will fall for this because they fall for everything, but they fell for this before they added in the address and Google maps image of your house.
People make so much fun of older folks who fall for so many scams, but this one is targeting younger people more so, and scaring the shite out of many of them. My 31 yr old co-worker got it and freaked out.
First time I got one of these they used my own e-mail as sender and had one of my old main passwords as subject (one that I still used in some places at the time). I did get scared for a second but as soon as I started reading the big text I understood what happened and started laughing. This is why you don't use repeated passwords, people. All it takes is one big leak and you're in an open database somewhere and your e-mail associated with that password for scammers to use. Luckly nothing important still had that password, but that did make me invest in a password manager so that it wouldn't happen with my actual password in the future.
Last week I noticed something in my spam folder that identified me by name and called me a pervert. This was all in the first couple of lines displayed in the header. True enough perhaps but I figured it was a scam and so never opened it. Thanks for the confirmation.
I have received multiple mails like these, and I won't even know because my mail app always puts these mails in the trash. And the funny thing is they don't even get my name right...
Yes, I got three at the same time 2 or 3 minutes apart, but the funny thing I thought was the 3rd one. Said I lived in a Mall. I was like what? I just did the report phishing. Thanks for letting us know. The more and more I get these random "official" emails more I think of Guardio. Thanks again!
I keep getting stuff like this but the info is so hilariously wrong (e.g. they assume my email includes my name but it's not) the temptation to reverse the trick back on them is hard to ignore
I have received these messages too. I’ve never heard of a Pegasus virus, my senders say they used a Trojan Horse virus. Most times I would reply with an emoticon of an extended middle finger. But one time, just for funsies, I told them that I wanted a 30-second sample of the video, as well as a random sample of 10 names from my contacts list. Naturally I received no reply.😂
I got one of those emails a few days ago, but with an abundance of caution, I was reluctant to open the PDF (who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?), so I'm glad you did. The text in the sample letter mirrors the body of other emails I have received over the years. Also, the addressee name was one of several fake names I often use, adding an additional layer of protection.
Worst part is they claim they sent it from your account which would be quite convincing if I didn't have access to my sent emails folder lol. They're getting crazy good at this shit though it's a mad world we live in.
Apparently hackers got a video when I've pleased myself to pictures of pretty women, threatening to release it if I don't pay them. I didn't pay them and so far that video has yet to be released.
I got a one like this, it's subject is: you have been hacked, I read it, but he said give me bitcoin, but I don't have any bitcoins, And I DON'T KNOW EVEN WHAT in the world is a bitcoin.
Yeah I can give you a bit of a coin. Would you like half of a 50p? I'll get my hacksaw. Although, I think it might be treason to destroy a coin with the British monarch's head on it.
"they are trying to extort money from you" "they claim to use the pegasus spyware app, which was only used by governments" "doesn't make much sense if you think about it" IRS wants to know your location.
I got this scam email back during the lockdowns. Figured it was B.S. since nothing specific was mentioned and ignored it. Low and behold the same email pops up years later with the exact same wording.
I have received this email probably 20 times over the last couple of years. I wonder how much money they have managed to get from people who fell for it. These scammers are disgusting a-holes.
I find it funny that they claim to have full access to your computer, yet they still need you to send them money/crypto, which they could likely do themselves if they had the access that they claim.
This is why i use a throwaway email address when online shopping or for random accounts like internet forums. I almost never get scam emails on my actual email account. I did get the blackmail email on one of my throwaway accounts that was clearly fake, it assumed i was a man and threatened to send video to my contacts, when in actuality that email had no contacts since i never emailed anyone from it!
I've received that type of email dozen of times over my business contact email. The email was the same thing, but saying that I was doing '18+' stuff and that them have a picture of me doing nasty things, which I didn't bothered to check the full email, as If they'll leak that, what people could see? A dude doing what majority of people does these days? Plus the password in the email was a random password generated, which wasn't mine either. The scam itself isn't scary, but more annoying tbh even though goes to the spam folder in my Gmail. Stay safe people and don't fall over this scam!
I've been getting a variation of this scam for years now. The one I typically get is not personalized so I can see how this one could cause a lot of concern.
I got one of those too. First time it kind of freaked me out. Then I remembered all my devices are locked down tightly, because I’m a cyber security expert
Got this email twice this year and immediately deleted it. Wasn't fooled by it. Reminded me of my childhood in the 1990s where chain email letter were thing,got a laugh out of it.
I received these emails every so often. It is funny when they send the email that is for my old address or phone number that is not accurate anymore. I got one that said they accessed my webcam when I was accessing an "adult" website, and they all demanded money to a bitcoin account. I always respond by demanding to see the "video footage" they claim to have. Most of the time, the email fails to send, because the email is fraudulent. That is an automatic red flag as well.
Hahaha...yup. I got one. Got a great laugh out of it. Mine started out saying something along the lines of, "I know I could come to >your address< to talk. You don't know what I am capable of", all that. It'd be kinda hilarious if they knew who they sent that to...this is NOT the house...lol
Don't you think there's something wrong with having to contact companies (credit bureaus) that you may have never dealt with in your life, in order to prevent them from giving out your personal information?
Got two exact emails one minute apart from ‘different’ senders this morning. It was obvious they cut and pasted my name and address into the body of the email. I figured it was a scam but it is disconcerting in any case.
OMG 5th comment! This is the earliest video I've watched; I started watching this video 5 minutes after it was uploaded! (I'm a subscriber) Anyway Thio, I love your videos - keep it up!
I don't have any surveillance cameras inside the house and the webcams are in the two offices with shutters on them. Which leaves the smart phones. I'm the local neighborhood IT guy, that people call when they have an issue. Thank You for telling me about the scam.
Yep.. got one recently. Picture was of the empty yard across the street! Too funny! I just deleted it. The elderly are the ones to really get this message out to.
A version I had started with something like, "Hi P3rvert!" and said they hacked my email, so it looked like it came from my own account. The best part is that I primarily use a desktop computer. Watching me through the camera? Good trick to connect to it while it's in a desk drawer.
I get this email a lot, and report it. For me, it was a no brainer, because I don't have a camera connected to my home-made computer and I know what programs are running and how to check it, plus I use a physical firewall and Surfshark, although any VPN will do. But what really makes me angry is that even though I took every measure to keep myself secure, a company in charge of LITERALLY everyone's personal identity data didn't keep it secure. Yeah, our stuff was already frozen and IRS pins and all, but it's the principle of the thing. And no consequences for National Public Data, not even an apology.
I got that kind of scam email a lot of times but it was never a pdf and no name or address or picture of any kind, just the "I hacked your computer and seen you do stuff through your webcam". Last time I got it I got a bit worried since it was showing that it came from my own email address, it made me check my email account security to make sure it didn't got hacked or something.
I got an email like this. Luckily, it was sent directly to my junk email. Since it said it was from my own email address, I decided to double check by checking my sent email folder, and lo and behold I hadn't sent it.
Yes, it's been around for years. Just ignore them or report to any law department interested in your country (there's Action Fraud in the UK). The Google street view is new, but I'd love to see them try it on on my house. We live up a narrow, private lane and the Google street cam stopped about 5m short of where they could see my house, so good luck with that!
I haven't gotten one of these in like 10 years. I remember the last time I was getting this, they were sending a password that I used to use when I was much younger in like 2007 for myspace.
I am sure the folks in South Dakota where there are plenty of places the Google Street View car hasn't been to get a laugh when they get an email like this and there's just a blank space there. A friend lives out there and when he showed me the photos of his place, he had to sent me the ones the real estate agent had taken since there was (and still isn't) any street view photos.
As others have mentioned this is an old scam, I've been getting these for decades. Another word of advice: don't open attachments if you don't know where there came from.
If you think about it, with Google Street View a picture of your residence from the street is easy enough to get if they've already got your address. What would be really scary is if the email contains video of you doing private things in your own home behinds closed curtains and doors. If they can prove they have very sensitive or incriminating video and threaten to release it, that would be real blackmail instead of the scare tactic scam.
I wouldn't know if I got that type of email. Gmail blocks all that stuff for me. And even if one did get to my inbox, I'm not stupid enough to open it. I blindly DELETE anything like that.
I've got a filter set up on my email to automatically send any email that has my name in the subject line to the trash. Normal emails from real people or actually-important companies wouldn't do that.
I got one of these last year and just laughed. It did not have a street view screenshot, which is a new level of sophistication and which could make it seem more real to many people. I'm glad you're spreading the word.
It’s a very trivial level of sophistication that anyone could figure out in minutes with ChatGPT.
It’s also dumb because if you had footage of a person, you’d send a screen shot from that video, not the outside of their house lol
The most ridiculous case is if they can't know who will read the mail.
I'm just baffled how some people are still falling for this. Even my 75 year old mom knows all about it. Second, this is exactly where AI would be the greatest help to recognize patterns in these mass email companions and shut the server down immediately.
Instead they are using AI to make Mickey-Mouse faces and other useless stuff. Pattern recognition in email content would be the most beneficial to shut these down within seconds. smh
It has personal information in it that most people would not know. It's very scary particularly when Goggle shuts down your account at the same time.
My wife got this. I work in IT, she was freaking out for days, I told her it was a scam and to report it as such. She was still on edge for a few days, thanks, for the video. I watched this with her and it calmed her down. And she's like you're right! I told her I'd bet her $1000 and then $10000 that nothing would happen. I think this also calmed her down because she knows how much it's hard for me to throw money away.
Jeez, if I have to take ANY action every time people try to scam me, I'd be constantly wasting my time on that nonsense.
After data leaks in Poland, the government created an online service to block criminals from taking out loans, opening accounts, or signing phone contracts in your name. You just need to switch one option in the mobile app with our e-ID. The law also requires all companies to check this. Other countries should create something like this to not rely on multiple credit bureaus.
@@jakubjoniec they should, but the USA is weak as hell on this. For example: freezing credit should be via a single portal but instead we just jump through hoops to freeze our credit.
@@patty109109 Not really. You just have to go to the 3 credit bureaus and freeze your credit individually with all 3. Took me less than 15minutes to do that with all 3.
I got this email and figured it was a scam. But I'm worried for other people who may fall for this. I remember hearing about a young kid who was blackmailed into sending money, and they ended up taking their own life. This is a serious crime and I hope the perpetrators are caught and handed stiff sentences. Thank you so much ThioJoe for covering this topic, we need to spread this message around so everyone knows the truth!!
wtf did that kid try to hide tho
@@panzerofthelake4460so a kid dies and you're asking about what the kid's hiding? That's none of your business. What's wrong with you? Why don't you show some respect for the victim?
@@panzerofthelake4460 It's sextortion, that's what is it. They said they'd post his nudes all over the Internet. It's not about what he's "trying to hide", other than his own privacy. It's an incredibly common scam sadly.
A little off topic, but that black mirror episode comes to mind every time I see these types of scams
Good luck. They’re in India, Pakistan, Russia, or some Eastern European country where the police don’t care. Only occasionally arresting some for show.
Tragically, there are cases where people saw this type of scam, freaked out, and took their own lives. Another reason why educating the public about what's really going on is important.
What
These people must not value their lives much.
@@xonx209 No. They mostly belonged to cultures with a high degree of shame around any sexual impropriety, where sending supposed nudes or compromising images of someone to that person's family could lead to serious harm.
@@Hrafnskald to add, they don’t even have to have done anything to be ashamed of. The accusations are bad enough
I got a similar email a few years ago. I was VERY concerned. It contained a genuine password which added authenticity. Then I realised I don't have a webcam so it must be a bluff.
Now I get them every week and I just laugh.
The likely hacked some site where you used that password and downloaded all the email addresses, passwords, and whatever other info the site had, then as ThioJoe said, had some script spam everyone an email. As long as you never use your email password for anything else and the password, they list in the email text isn't your email password then you're good. You just need to go to whatever site where you used that password and change it.
@@wildbill4496which means some idiot stored unhashed unsalted passwords in the site's user db
It was old defunct games for me that I would try out and then not use if I didn't like 'em. Could tell by the password.
Just got that email. I figured it was a scam but good to have my mind set at ease. Thank you!
It's very disturbing, particularly when gmail has disabled your account for seemingly no valid reason.
I got a letter like this once, claiming they caught me doing some "nasty things" on my webcam and threatening to expose me unless I sent them Bitcoin. So, I replied from an alternate account, saying, "Go ahead, send it out! I'm already on several of those naughty websites. You’ll just be helping me get more exposure-thanks for the free publicity!"
Believe it or not, they actually replied back with, "Sorry, wrong person. Bye." I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair!
Whenever you get something like this, just play it off and they’ll disappear, especially if they’ve got nothing. And honestly, you shouldn’t give a damn. If you’re gonna do something nasty on your webcam, be proud of it!
These are likely hacked accounts because I got two from two different gmail accounts that seem like someones personal ones
@@lukeskywalker2 No, it was literally directed to me, name and everything..... I have multiple accounts to prevent spam and everything, but the odd chance they get in.
i got a few also , i was rather amused to be honest .... i didn't know these hackers could hack my non-existent webcam on my desktop
@@marcus_cole_2 I think they mean the email it was sent from (either hacked or spoofed)
The "from" email is usually displayed as one of three:
- your own email address (trying to make you believe they hacked your email account)
- a hacked email
- a fictitious email which will bounce if replied to.
@@marcus_cole_2 I don't think you understood the comment. They were talking about the sender. The sender might be a stolen account.
I like how they try to sound real by going, "Okay, now take a moment to breathe as I threaten to ruin your life."
i was more impressed how they hacked my non existent webcam on my computer, or how they were able to somehow ook through my phone's webcam when i always cover it , man these guys are GOOD ........LMAO .
@@breadmoth6443they used the secret Xray feature
The one I got was like “don’t stress it’ll be alright, as long as you send the payment. Otherwise I will ruin your life”
Lmao
@@breadmoth6443 for me it was how they got my address that is literally used in countless websites for shipping. It's not impressive. 😂
"I know where you live"
Me who already knew: 🗿
😭
😭
😂
i actually had one like this around the start/middle of august. it did frighten me as it did in fact seem to be from myself. same pfp and same email address. they threatened to leak the exact same kinda videos if i didnt give them their bitcoin within 48 hours. problem was, microsoft outlook sent this to my junk folder so it wasn't until 2 weeks after it was sent that i saw it. safe to say the hacker was bluffing.
also, in hindsight, it was very likely spoofed as a friend suggested and as i thought.
If you get an email that looks like it came from yourself, check the message header. They can spoof the From field, but I have not yet seen where scammers can spoof the information in the message header and buried in the header is the server and email address it actually originated from.
I got that one too (and sadly fell for it)
Did it start with “hello pervert” or something?
I was changing my anti-anxiety meds when it came through so was already on edge at the time adjusting to the new meds. Plus I didn’t know email spoofing existed either.
Had I not been changing meds at that stage I probably wouldn’t have fallen for it.
I hate to imagine how many people have fallen for it.
@@FruityKoala
I got this email today, was shaking and cold but then discovered the scam
I'll never forget when I i got one of these, and they described the webcam video as "straight fire"
Wow. If I got my "videos" (no camera connected) called that I might start an OF account and get rich!
I don't have a webcam,. but felt they could use any video and claim it was mine.
😅😅 that's what mine said too 😂
The scam text I got (along these same lines) had my ACTUAL social security number in it. Of course I know 99% of the SSNs are all available on the black market, but it was still disconcerting to have a blackmailer show me such sensitive info. Thankfully, I know I've NEVER taken a nude picture of myself, so the threats were impotent. I kept the scammer going back and forth for about a half hour and demanded to see EVEN ONE PIC to prove his statements, but they couldn't and finally gave up. I screen capped the whole thing and look at it when I need a good laugh.
social "security" numbers are a joke. they were never secure and were never designed to be
I got that scam a few years back. The hilarious thing is they were claiming to have all this video of me from my computer's camera, but my computer does not have a build in web cam, I have to plug in an external USB camera when I want a facecam for meetings, so LOL, yeah, right. I also don't visit sketchy sites anyways, so again, yeah right.
Second the motion. I just laughed because in nearly 40 years of PC use, I've never bought a setup with either a camera or a microphone installed. Besides which, I'm old enough now that even if I did visit some porn site, I wouldn't be capable of putting on any kind of a show for anyone to be scandalized about.
+1 to this. I never had a webcam for my pc, so when the scammers sent me some mail talking about a "webcam" I just laughed it off.
Most of my kids' and their friends put tape over their webcam unless they're actively using it.
A few years back I got one with an old password of mine in the subject line, one that I retired about two decades ago. Must have used it on IRC back in the day, or something else that wasn't so secure. Same bit, said they had me on webcam doing shady stuff, and of course I'm on a desktop without a camera of any kind. It did creep me out for a day or two, but I knew it was some automated form-letter style scam. Trying to take me for about two grand in Bitcoin.
Same. My computers don’t not have a built in cam. They did put in there what webcam I use, but it’s a USB microscope and says so in the name. I read it about 6 months after it was sent because it was caught in the junk folder and saw it when I went to clean it out. Even had the password I used 10 years prior.
I've had this kind of email twice now and it's supposedly about filming me having an exciting time at a porn site and they were going to email the film to everyone i my contact list. I've mentioned this to a couple of people I know and asked them to forward a video of me having a good time because I'd love to see it!
The fact that someone was in a databreach is actually more worrying than receiving an email like this
That's the problem.
I got one of these a year or two ago. I'm over 70yo, but with a career in telecommunications. Aside from the fact that my lounge tower PC has no camera, and my bedroom laptop camera has been taped over since I bought it, there is the question of why, if they had access to my computer/s, did they not just harvest keystrokes to get my bank account and password, and transfer themselves money without the bother of email scamming? LOL! Ignored it.
PRO TIP: you can also blurry out your address on google maps by making a report in the bottom right corner
Blur*
Also, for some reason, you CAN NOT unblur your house on Google Maps. So it might not be worth it.
@@John-Smith02 How often are you checking out your own home on google street maps that it being blurry would bother you?
It just depends, local authorities like councils can go to Google and ask to stop blurring anything other than licence plates and faces as they use this to look at city assets and determine where to upgrade.
@@99mage99 it's just annoying. I don't think it mentioned it's permanent when I did it
@@John-Smith02 CANNOT*
I felt like using an asterisk too. ;)
I got one of these too. Not amusing, but I noticed the scammer thought it was a good idea to spoof my email to make it seem believable.
Now I have an email rule called "Stop Spoofing Yourself" to deal with those emails. Now THAT is amusing.
You shouldn't open an attachment in a suspicious email or an email you were not expecting. Opening an attachment could infect your computer with malware
pdf files can have malware with macros, but many programs to view pdfs block macros automatically@@krystal5887
@@krystal5887 it's entirely possible with pdfs
it doesn't hurt to be overly cautious but realistically, no one's gonna waste a 0day pdf exploit on this lmao
@@krystal5887it literally happened to ltt with a PDF
Exactly. In the beginning, when he said you get an email message with your name and address and an attached PDF file, opening the PDF file is mistake #1. lol *sigh*
Got one that claimed to have a tracking pixel to know I opened it, except it was sent to my Proton, which protects against those, and better yet, there were no images to begin with-the "tracking pixel" was a period in the body of the email lol. That said, it's still scary how plausible the threat seems to anyone that's not up to date on the latest scams, data breaches, advancements in AI & automation, etc. Thanks for spreading the word.
I love receiving emails about things captured with the mic and camera my computer never had.
Those hackers are so good they can take videos of me using a non-existent webcam.
Thanks for reporting, I knew it was a scam. I simply was curious to see how many people were affected by this horrible practice. Ive gotten 4 of the same emails already.
Got two of these in the last week. I don't use my real name for online orders, so I got a very personalized threat to a person that doesn't exist. The photo of my house from Google Maps wasn't even my house. Then the ramblings around visiting adult sites on my phone (that only does calls and texts) and referring to the 2009 iMac in my bedroom a "nice setup" just made the whole thing even more hilarious.
At the end of the day, though, blackmail doesn't work without proof of whatever "scandalous" video you claim to have. If you can't produce the embarrassing video for _me_ to see, then I'm sure you can't produce it for all my contacts either. But I guess that's the beauty of using a bot to pump out infinite e-mails thousands at a time; you're bound to get a few people who panic and don't think it through.
Thanks. I NEVER open attachments including pdf's. Just delete any email and never click on any links period even ones that look/are legit.
It's getting around here in Australia as I've got one just recently...... scared the hell out of me initially as I have never received anything like this before!...... thanks Joe for clarifying. 😊
got a few of these myself and almost shat myself. i just decided to do the smart thing and report the emails.
Ironically that's what was in the video...
(sorry, couldn't resist)
This is really old and well known. They’ve been doing the “we have cam footage of you” for blackmail thing for like 15 years.
Adding on a street view image of your address is just funny.
If you had footage of me, you’d send me screen caps of me.
Yes, people will fall for this because they fall for everything, but they fell for this before they added in the address and Google maps image of your house.
I would be like "Yeah, send it out. There's some hot chicks on my e-mail list. Maybe they'll be impressed."
People make so much fun of older folks who fall for so many scams, but this one is targeting younger people more so, and scaring the shite out of many of them. My 31 yr old co-worker got it and freaked out.
Thanks for warning us! Very helpful!
"Downloaded one of the many databreaches that everyone's been in..." Man we really live in the worst timeline, don't we?
First time I got one of these they used my own e-mail as sender and had one of my old main passwords as subject (one that I still used in some places at the time). I did get scared for a second but as soon as I started reading the big text I understood what happened and started laughing. This is why you don't use repeated passwords, people. All it takes is one big leak and you're in an open database somewhere and your e-mail associated with that password for scammers to use.
Luckly nothing important still had that password, but that did make me invest in a password manager so that it wouldn't happen with my actual password in the future.
"I see you have password of mine which I stopped using 30 years ago. Good luck with that."
Last week I noticed something in my spam folder that identified me by name and called me a pervert. This was all in the first couple of lines displayed in the header. True enough perhaps but I figured it was a scam and so never opened it. Thanks for the confirmation.
Thank you! I've gotten a few of these recently, and you really set my mind at ease 👍
I have received multiple mails like these, and I won't even know because my mail app always puts these mails in the trash. And the funny thing is they don't even get my name right...
Yes, I got three at the same time 2 or 3 minutes apart, but the funny thing I thought was the 3rd one. Said I lived in a Mall. I was like what? I just did the report phishing.
Thanks for letting us know.
The more and more I get these random "official" emails more I think of Guardio.
Thanks again!
I keep getting stuff like this but the info is so hilariously wrong (e.g. they assume my email includes my name but it's not) the temptation to reverse the trick back on them is hard to ignore
I have received these messages too. I’ve never heard of a Pegasus virus, my senders say they used a Trojan Horse virus. Most times I would reply with an emoticon of an extended middle finger. But one time, just for funsies, I told them that I wanted a 30-second sample of the video, as well as a random sample of 10 names from my contacts list. Naturally I received no reply.😂
I got one of those emails a few days ago, but with an abundance of caution, I was reluctant to open the PDF (who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?), so I'm glad you did. The text in the sample letter mirrors the body of other emails I have received over the years. Also, the addressee name was one of several fake names I often use, adding an additional layer of protection.
Worst part is they claim they sent it from your account which would be quite convincing if I didn't have access to my sent emails folder lol. They're getting crazy good at this shit though it's a mad world we live in.
I want to personally thank for helping me out, I've almost fall into this scam
Apparently hackers got a video when I've pleased myself to pictures of pretty women, threatening to release it if I don't pay them. I didn't pay them and so far that video has yet to be released.
Thank you for add proper subtitles! 👌
Can't believe that anyone falls for this absolute nonsense. Hate the creeps doing it though. They are the lowest of the low
I got a one like this, it's subject is: you have been hacked, I read it, but he said give me bitcoin, but I don't have any bitcoins, And I DON'T KNOW EVEN WHAT in the world is a bitcoin.
Yeah I can give you a bit of a coin. Would you like half of a 50p? I'll get my hacksaw. Although, I think it might be treason to destroy a coin with the British monarch's head on it.
It's a 3D printed coin with a letter B on it.
Never Got this type of Email , but now I know what to do with it . Thanks Bro
"they are trying to extort money from you"
"they claim to use the pegasus spyware app, which was only used by governments"
"doesn't make much sense if you think about it"
IRS wants to know your location.
They don't ask they already know it 😂
@@FirstnameLastname_official It's nice to ask so they can see if you're lying. :)
The IRS doesn't ask for money, they just take it and demand what's owed to them
It's hard to know it's very disconcerting because of UA-cam's own behavior. I felt a disgruntled Google employee may have been involved.
Possible tax evader sighted. Will visit home soon.
Thank you for not shilling something like Incogni or some other information removal service on this video because those always feel sketchy.
Ty, appreciate all you do. I haven't gotten one of these, but did get one disguised as coming from Apple.
Amazing vid, Thio.
I got this scam email back during the lockdowns. Figured it was B.S. since nothing specific was mentioned and ignored it. Low and behold the same email pops up years later with the exact same wording.
I have received this email probably 20 times over the last couple of years.
I wonder how much money they have managed to get from people who fell for it.
These scammers are disgusting a-holes.
I find it funny that they claim to have full access to your computer, yet they still need you to send them money/crypto, which they could likely do themselves if they had the access that they claim.
This is why i use a throwaway email address when online shopping or for random accounts like internet forums. I almost never get scam emails on my actual email account. I did get the blackmail email on one of my throwaway accounts that was clearly fake, it assumed i was a man and threatened to send video to my contacts, when in actuality that email had no contacts since i never emailed anyone from it!
I've received that type of email dozen of times over my business contact email. The email was the same thing, but saying that I was doing '18+' stuff and that them have a picture of me doing nasty things, which I didn't bothered to check the full email, as If they'll leak that, what people could see? A dude doing what majority of people does these days? Plus the password in the email was a random password generated, which wasn't mine either. The scam itself isn't scary, but more annoying tbh even though goes to the spam folder in my Gmail. Stay safe people and don't fall over this scam!
the laundry remark had me in stitches!
I've been getting a variation of this scam for years now. The one I typically get is not personalized so I can see how this one could cause a lot of concern.
I got one of those too. First time it kind of freaked me out. Then I remembered all my devices are locked down tightly, because I’m a cyber security expert
Forewarned is forearmed. Thanks. I’ve seen this a few times, but reminders can’t hurt.
😊
Thanks for sharing 😍
Thank you for your work.
Got this email twice this year and immediately deleted it. Wasn't fooled by it. Reminded me of my childhood in the 1990s where chain email letter were thing,got a laugh out of it.
You Are amazing always on the spot !
I received these emails every so often. It is funny when they send the email that is for my old address or phone number that is not accurate anymore.
I got one that said they accessed my webcam when I was accessing an "adult" website, and they all demanded money to a bitcoin account.
I always respond by demanding to see the "video footage" they claim to have. Most of the time, the email fails to send, because the email is fraudulent. That is an automatic red flag as well.
Hahaha...yup. I got one. Got a great laugh out of it. Mine started out saying something along the lines of, "I know I could come to >your address< to talk. You don't know what I am capable of", all that. It'd be kinda hilarious if they knew who they sent that to...this is NOT the house...lol
I've received three of these so far, and I just send them straight to spam. I hadn't thought of marking them as phishing as well
Don't you think there's something wrong with having to contact companies (credit bureaus) that you may have never dealt with in your life, in order to prevent them from giving out your personal information?
Got two exact emails one minute apart from ‘different’ senders this morning. It was obvious they cut and pasted my name and address into the body of the email. I figured it was a scam but it is disconcerting in any case.
It's an evolution of the one where they supposedly filmed you doing "things" through your webcam, even when your monitor doesn't even sports one.
OMG 5th comment! This is the earliest video I've watched; I started watching this video 5 minutes after it was uploaded! (I'm a subscriber)
Anyway Thio, I love your videos - keep it up!
Thank you for telling this!
Top scammon sense: dont click on links or open attachments.
I don't have any surveillance cameras inside the house and the webcams are in the two offices with shutters on them. Which leaves the smart phones. I'm the local neighborhood IT guy, that people call when they have an issue. Thank You for telling me about the scam.
Hello 👋🏻 Thanks for the vid Joe ❤
Yep.. got one recently. Picture was of the empty yard across the street! Too funny! I just deleted it. The elderly are the ones to really get this message out to.
I had an email like that but no PDF. I ignored it and nothing happened. It is just some A-holes trying to scare us for money!
A version I had started with something like, "Hi P3rvert!" and said they hacked my email, so it looked like it came from my own account. The best part is that I primarily use a desktop computer. Watching me through the camera? Good trick to connect to it while it's in a desk drawer.
A picture of your house is at your local County Assessors website...
dang, some days I'm late feeding the cats! I better pay them off! 🤣😂
I get this email a lot, and report it. For me, it was a no brainer, because I don't have a camera connected to my home-made computer and I know what programs are running and how to check it, plus I use a physical firewall and Surfshark, although any VPN will do. But what really makes me angry is that even though I took every measure to keep myself secure, a company in charge of LITERALLY everyone's personal identity data didn't keep it secure. Yeah, our stuff was already frozen and IRS pins and all, but it's the principle of the thing. And no consequences for National Public Data, not even an apology.
I got that kind of scam email a lot of times but it was never a pdf and no name or address or picture of any kind, just the "I hacked your computer and seen you do stuff through your webcam". Last time I got it I got a bit worried since it was showing that it came from my own email address, it made me check my email account security to make sure it didn't got hacked or something.
I got one just two days ago. I recognized it as a scam because it described having videos of me doing things I don’t do lol.
I got an email like this. Luckily, it was sent directly to my junk email. Since it said it was from my own email address, I decided to double check by checking my sent email folder, and lo and behold I hadn't sent it.
Yes, it's been around for years. Just ignore them or report to any law department interested in your country (there's Action Fraud in the UK). The Google street view is new, but I'd love to see them try it on on my house. We live up a narrow, private lane and the Google street cam stopped about 5m short of where they could see my house, so good luck with that!
I got one of these as well! Just reported it to Microsoft and deleted it. The tone of the letter was very threatening. Funny stuff for sure.
I haven't gotten one of these in like 10 years. I remember the last time I was getting this, they were sending a password that I used to use when I was much younger in like 2007 for myspace.
I am sure the folks in South Dakota where there are plenty of places the Google Street View car hasn't been to get a laugh when they get an email like this and there's just a blank space there. A friend lives out there and when he showed me the photos of his place, he had to sent me the ones the real estate agent had taken since there was (and still isn't) any street view photos.
Yep got it myself in UK. It got forwarded to the government phishing report tool.
As others have mentioned this is an old scam, I've been getting these for decades. Another word of advice: don't open attachments if you don't know where there came from.
I got sent this email so many times as well. and I don't even have a webcam on my desktop :D
Yeah, I keep thinking, maybe I should get a webcam just for the scammers to watch me. But then I wake up.
Lmao, the fact that knowing a single serial number is a serious security risk in the "best country in the world" is insane....
Never understood that either. Here you can search someones "personal number", since it doesnt really do that much
I got that exact same email word for word! It’s always easy to figure out it’s a scam because of the spelling and grammar errors.
I've gotten two in the last few days. They went to spam though.
I got one of these a couple of years ago; it went into my spam folder so I almost missed seeing it. Hilarious!
If you think about it, with Google Street View a picture of your residence from the street is easy enough to get if they've already got your address. What would be really scary is if the email contains video of you doing private things in your own home behinds closed curtains and doors. If they can prove they have very sensitive or incriminating video and threaten to release it, that would be real blackmail instead of the scare tactic scam.
I wouldn't know if I got that type of email. Gmail blocks all that stuff for me. And even if one did get to my inbox, I'm not stupid enough to open it. I blindly DELETE anything like that.
Yep, these emails have been absolutely on fire lately
I've got a filter set up on my email to automatically send any email that has my name in the subject line to the trash. Normal emails from real people or actually-important companies wouldn't do that.