I Can See You, Send Me Money

I opened my email yesterday and saw one from a man - someone I didn't know. There was an attachment to the email, but I did not open the file. I think it was a PDF.

When I retired from the Federal government, I worked in information security. Our team handled all of the human resources IT systems. I was the technical expert for one system, but I was also responsible for ensuring that users had the correct security clearance and that contractors kept the systems secure.

The email only had my name and my address in the body. Anyone can google or find information on people, especially if we have any social media or own property, to list a few items.

I think it was a PDF document attached, and I can read attachments in emails without opening them by simply clicking on the "view" option. I didn't pay deep attention to everything it said, but this jerk claimed he had all my information. He knew everything about me. According to the email, I had visited a porn site, and while I was playing around and having fun on the porn site, he tracked my movements and gathered all my information. He told me not to think that putting a sticky note over my computer's camera would prevent him from watching me. He knew everything and could see me.

The point of this scam email was to frighten me. A demand for money was in the message. How much? I don't know because I was preoccupied with laughing out loud at the ridiculous email and his attempt to scam me. So I wasn't frightened, just kind of creeped out. "I only accept bitcoin and you need to pay me today."

Sure, buddy, I'll send that right off to the bitcoin account you provided right now!

"I am waiting for your payment. It needs to be sent today. Once it is sent, I will wipe out your information because I keep my word."

Right. I'll jump immediately on that for you. IN YOUR DREAMS, you SCUMBAG.

**

—— August 21, 2018, Cristina Miranda, Division of Consumer and Business Education, FTC

"I know about the secret you are keeping from your wife and everyone else. You can ignore this letter, or pay me a $8600 confidentiality fee in Bitcoin".

It's enough to send shivers down anyone's spine, but these chilling words are part of a new scam targeting men. Here's how it works. Scammers have been sending letters to men, demanding payments using bitcoin in exchange for keeping quiet about alleged affairs. The letter also explains how to use Bitcoin to make the payment. This is a criminal extortion attempt to separate people from their money. If you — or someone you know — gets a letter like this, report it immediately to your local police and the FBI. ——

**

I forwarded the email to my provider's spam account and marked it as spam and phishing. I found a Reddit string with many people who had gotten the same type of email. The spammer puts malware into the attachment, and people who click on the attachment are subjected to the malware.

Don't click on attachments, even if they look to be from legitimate sources. If I get an email from the government, I go to the actual government site, log in to my account, and look at the details they wanted me to see. If I get the email that my Amazon account is locked, I ignore it and report it as spam.

Criminals are creating new ways every minute of every day. You can create two-factor authentication (which can be a real pain, believe me), which ensures your information is safe. A code is texted to you - I'm the only one holding my cell phone, so it is authenticated.

Don't click links; don't reply to spammers; use twelve-fifteen character passwords and if you are notified your information or email was found in a data leak, change the password.

Copyright © 1/13/2025 by Andrea O. Corwin

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