Beware of “Sextortion” Phishing Scams Barracuda Networks Warns
Barracuda Networks, a worldwide leader in security, warned its users back in October 2018 of a growing phishing scam that they call “Sextortion.”
This is how they describe this scam in their blog post Ongoing “Sextortion” Scam Utilizes Breach Data…
Sextortion Scam – Attackers use passwords stolen in past data breaches to trick users into paying Bitcoin to avoid having a compromising video, which attacker claim to have recorded on the victim’s computer, shared with all their contacts.
How Do You Respond to a Sextortion Phishing Scam?
What is their basic advice about how to respond to one of these scams? Their advice is simple…
“Don’t react to a sextortion email out of fear. Always pay close attention to the details and do not assume that a breached password or spoofed email means that you are currently compromised.”
Learn More About Sextortion Phishing Scam
If you’d like to learn more about this scam, then you should check out Barracuda Networks blog post.
In that post, they go on to cover:
- The details on these type of attacks/scams (including a screenshot of one of these types of emails)
- The scope of the Sextortion Scam
- A potential victim’s perspective
- The tactics they use and why they are so effective
- Two ways to protect yourself
- Other best practices to protect
Go here to read the full blog post: Ongoing “Sextortion” Scam Utilizes Breach Data.
Speaking of how to protect yourself and best practices, let me leave you with one way that’s guaranteed to work against these types of scams…
One Additional and Effective Way to Guard Yourself from This Scam
This might be obvious but the best way to guard yourself from this type of scam is to stay away from the type of videos that these scammers are accusing people of visiting and watching.
That way if you ever receive an email like this, then you have nothing to worry about. Because you will know the scammer is lying about watching any such a video!
