Malware or just spam?

[Terry Gaiman]

I got this email today from someone called "hacker team", and while I would usually never think too much of it, there was a video in this email (Which I obviously didn't click). But it got me thinking, so I googled the contents of the email, and other people had posted about it. On bitcoinabuse, it was somewhat unclear if people considered it stupid spam or an actual threat, however according to "howtoremoveguide" receving this email is a major threat.
-As mentioned I didn't click anything in the email

 

[Jack]

I got this email today from someone called "hacker team", and while I would usually never think too much of it, there was a video in this email (Which I obviously didn't click). But it got me thinking, so I googled the contents of the email, and other people had posted about it. On bitcoinabuse, it was somewhat unclear if people considered it stupid spam or an actual threat, however according to "howtoremoveguide" receving this email is a major threat.
-As mentioned I didn't click anything in the email

It's just spam. These scammers send thousand of these spam emails to trick people. Don't send any money and delete this email from your inbox. You may get other similar emails, hower, it's safe to ignore them.

Spoiler: More details

Is this threat real?
No, and don't panic. This email is a scam that tries to trick you into thinking that your device or email has been hacked, then demands payment or else they will send compromising information -such as images of you captured through your web camera or your pornographic browsing history - to all your friends and family. And in classic ransomware fashion, there’s typically a ticking clock. Giving users a short time limit to deliver the payment is social engineering at its finest.
Threats, intimidation and high-pressure tactics are classic signs of a scam.

As you can imagine, this email and anything it states is just a scam to try and scare you into paying the ransom.

They have my password! How did they get my password?
To make the threats more credible, these scammers may include one of your passwords in this email. The scammers have your password from sites that were hacked, and in this case, likely matched up to a database of emails and stolen passwords and sent this scam out to potentially millions of people. You can check if your email or password was compromised in a data breach on Haveibeenpwned.

If the password emailed to you is one that you still use, in any context whatsoever, stop using it and change it NOW. It's also recommended that you enable two-factor authentication for your email and online accounts whenever that is an option.

Should I pay the ransom?
You should not pay the ransom. If you pay the ransom, you’re not only losing money but you’re encouraging the scammers to continue phishing other people.
Delete this email, and under no circumstances pay these cybercriminals a penny/dime/bitcoin.

 

[EndangeredPootis]

The howtoremove guide is probably just an advertisement for a scam product, and yes, this email is simply trying to scare you into giving them bitcoin or something.