Urgent warning after vile extortion scam targets hundreds of Australians
An urgent warning has been issued after hundreds of Australians were targeted in a terrifying extortion scam.
Hacking
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Australians have urged to stay vigilant as hundreds of people have been targeted in a bulk extortion email campaign.
In the last week, Scamwatch received hundreds of reports of Australians being targeted by criminals who claim they have hacked the person’s computer and accessed “compromising” images and videos of them.
The scammer will threaten to release the images or videos to friends and family if they’re not paid a certain amount in cryptocurrency to a specified address.
However, Scamwatch said there isn’t any evidence the scammer has hacked the person’s computer or webcam.
The criminal may try to convince the person to send over money by providing their personal details of the recipients, including birth dates and home addresses, which were likely accessed from previous public data breaches.
ACCC deputy chief Catriona Lowe said while Australians should always stay vigilant about scams, “people need to be especially alert to this emerging trend”.
“The fictional threats in these emails combined with the inclusion of people’s personal data are intended to terrify the individual reading it,” Ms Lowe said.
“It’s extortion and it’s a crime.”
The National Anti-Scam Centre is working alongside law enforcement and IDCARE to disrupt the scam and offer support to victims.
If a person has received a suspicious email, they are urged to ignore or delete it, and never give any money or personal information to the scammer.
If a scammer has taken a person’s money or personal details, immediately contact the bank or card provider and report the scam, and ask them to stop any transactions.
Ms Lowe urged people to“be aware that the recent volume of reports of this scam suggest it is a large-scale campaign”.
Anyone who has encountered this scam is encouraged to report to Scamwatch.
Originally published as Urgent warning after vile extortion scam targets hundreds of Australians
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