Extortion Emails on the Rise: A Look at The Different Types

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Content source

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/extortion-emails-on-the-rise-a-look-at-the-different-types/

Since 2018, a constant stream of extortion email scams have been targeting users with fake threats designed to scare you into sending a payment in bitcoins to avoid an embarrassing leak or threat of legal action.
These extortion emails are being sent through large spam botnets or through smaller campaigns undertaken by lone attackers.While more people have become aware of these attacks, the amount of extortion emails being sent out continues to trend upward as attackers continue to create new variants.
According to a new report by Symantec, between January 1st and May 29th, 2019 they have blocked approximately 289 million extension emails from reaching their clients.
"Between January 1 and May 29, 2019, just under 289 million of these types of emails were blocked by Symantec technologies," Symantec stated in a report. "Just over 85 million of these emails (almost 30 percent) were blocked during this 17-day period in February when we saw a big spike in these types of scams. We didn’t just see a surge in one particular type of scam in this period, but a surge in a few different variations of extortion scam emails".
Read the rest, including a look at the different extortion scams here: Extortion Emails on the Rise: A Look at The Different Types

 

[oldschool]

I haven’t gotten one of these yet but we do see more new members who have. They’re freaked out until they learn that these are fake and then the members disappear from the forum.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

I have got one and my 15 year son too. I'm thankful that we have such a good relation that he comes to me for advice with these kind of mails.