Bitcoin Masterbating 2.0 Emails, don’t fall for the trap.

[Juggy777]

If you have been on this forum for a long time now then you’ll know that few years back a phishing mail had landed in people's mail box claiming that they had been captured masterbating while watching porn, but it was a scam mail. However what made people to believe that it was Real was the fact that it contained their passwords used by them, but rest assured guys they have no such videos of yours so don’t bother about the mail. Now I know people will ask me why am I bringing up a dead topic then let me tell you’ll that this mail is circulating once again, and many cases about bitcoins scams are on the rise.

Bitcoin Abuse, a website that tracks these kinds of Bitcoin scams, has fielded almost 50,000 reports this year. April has seen a massive influx of submissions — over 41,000 — and while not all of them are specific to the sextortion scam, many are, and they’re coming in multiple languages.

Helpful tips:

So, security researchers at Sophos advise you to do two things. First: Delete the email and move on.

The second is change the password referenced in the email, as it’s likely that other phishers also have access to it. Even if they’re old accounts, you should change them to protect your current ones.

Sources:

https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2020/04/20/so-you-received-the-bitcoin-masturbation-vid-email-heres-what-to-do/

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4666540.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5100309.40

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5125432.0

[danherbias07]

Crap! I suddenly checked my mail after I read the whole thing.
Good news though I don't have it.

But thank for warning us immediately.
This could be really fearsome if we open it without even thinking and also got scared of what the mail is composed of.

I hope someone could share also what it look like without opening it yet.
Just the raw look on your e-mail. It will be more helpful.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I hope someone could share also what it look like without opening it yet.

The last link in OP's post has the text of these scams in it, so you can see what it looks like.

Even though this is a scam, and the scammer does not have a video of you, having a webcam pointed at you at all times isn't exactly a great idea. There are plenty of photos online of people who work for various security agencies (FBI, NSA, etc.) who have put tape or similar over the webcams on their laptops. I would suggest everyone does the same as a minimum.

The same applies to mobile phones. There are phone cases with built in camera covers, or small adhesive covers you can stick over your front and rear cameras, which you can flick open when you want to use your cameras. Covering your camera protects against potential hacks or scams like this one, but it also prevents against mass surveillance by governments and companies like Google and Apple.

[forbesmining]

I don't pay attention to these emails at all so I will never fall into this trap

[DeathAngel]

I’d never fall for anything like this but if they did have a video of me masturbating I have nothing to be ashamed of & I certainly wouldn’t pay anybody bitcoin to not release the video

[ethereumhunter]

I don't get any email like that, and if I got it, I would delete it as soon as possible because I don't do anything like that. Today, many ways that the scammers will do to steal people's money, and the email is one of their ways. They will not stop to search for the new target since cryptocurrency become popular now. Hopefully, there will be many people aware of that, so they don't send any bitcoin to them, and they can be safe from that scammers.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

However what made people to believe that it was Real was the fact that it contained their passwords used by them

Yikes--there was another thread recently about this, and I'm not worried since I don't have a webcam and generally don't even look at porn.  That's disturbing that the extortionists actually had some sensitive data on people.  That and the thread that there might be "compromising video" would likely scare quite a few folks. 

Thanks for the additional heads up, OP.  Even if it seems relatively obvious that it's a scam, there are potential victims who might fall for it if they're not warned.  That seems to be the case with all of those scams, unfortunately.

[figmentofmyass]

Yikes--there was another thread recently about this, and I'm not worried since I don't have a webcam and generally don't even look at porn.

i see what you did there. your secret is safe with us.

if you're getting this email and they are showing you your password, you've been pwned. ignore the email, change your passwords, and stop being lazy with your security. https://haveibeenpwned.com/

if only for peace of mind, people should tape their webcams and plug their external microphone jacks. https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/webcam-tape-good-idea

[TheDigitalMan]

However what made people to believe that it was Real was the fact that it contained their passwords used by them

...That's disturbing that the extortionists actually had some sensitive data on people...

I think they got the sensitive data in one of two ways. 

1. There are crypto sites out there that are scams in and of themselves and when you set up an account with them they save your password and email info.  So the scammer could be running such a site and be getting the info that way.  This is why it is important to use DIFFERENT passwords on every crypto site you register with.

2. I also think they could have bought data off the dark web from... oh let's say the Equifax hack?  Just saying.

I'm with Death Angel.  So what if I was masturbating.  Feel free to distribute.  But it is funny how they go after sensitive social moors that people are uncomfortable with... playing on their fears etc.

The password they used on my emails was several years old.  They either got it when I first got involved in crypto back in 2014 or they bought it off the dark web.  I knew the email was bogus the minute I read it.  But I found it interesting just the same... and of course I went and checked the balance on the bitcoin address.  I don't know if they use more then one address because the one in my email had like 2 or 3 payments sent to it if I remember correctly. 

[Leonardo7]

It's difficult for some persons not to fall for this type of scam especially when they are shown their password. I most times avoid opening mails of threat and offers or a security bridge from unfamiliar contacts. I personally don't bother about many things anymore, been on this space for a while has thought me many hard lessons.

[wozzek23]

Yes, it’s not good to be replying such emails. I have not experienced such before, but I have seen a lot of people that have been threatened with issues like this. And it doesn’t stop, it keeps happening all the time, so I don’t see anything wrong with you posting about it. People really have to be careful.

When things like these happening and people are trying to threaten you by saying they will expose your privacy, you shouldn’t be afraid. Stand your ground, delete their nails and block them for good so they wouldn’t any other access to you. Just following the basics of internet security measurements will be more than enough for this kind of attempts, in my opinion.

[ethereumhunter]

It's difficult for some persons not to fall for this type of scam especially when they are shown their password. I most times avoid opening mails of threat and offers or a security bridge from unfamiliar contacts. I personally don't bother about many things anymore, been on this space for a while has thought me many hard lessons.

No, that will not be difficult. As long as he doesn't do anything that looks break something, he doesn't have to panic or fall for that type of scam. It depends on how we can act for something that we get in our email or other places, and if we can calm down and control ourselves while we check the truth, we can see if that thing is fake or not. When it comes to the internet, I think we really need to be careful because many of fake news that is trying to trick us and steal our money.

[davis196]

I'm glad I don't have a webcam on my laptop.
Anyway,I'm curious about how the scammers manage to gather a big email list,so they could mass email.
They might be using email scraping software or some security break into a cryptocurrency platform,that reveal the emails of all user accounts.
However,the process of mass emailing is really simple and can be executed for free.There's an Amazon Web Services(AWS) SaaS called Simple Email Service(SES),which allows people to send up to 50K emails for free AFAIK.People can use even Google Groups to send mass emails for free.
Unfortunately,creating such email scam is very cheap and really easy.

[KrisAlex18]

Cringe, Upon reading this theread, I checked my email and luckily I don't reveive one lol, but imagine, how they will see you masturbatung when you are only watching some porn, I think that is really impossible and when you read about sending bitcoin for the vidoes seems so scam. Always be vigilant, do not send money or cryptocurrency to someonelse especially when it talks about something like that, if you know you are not doing something wrong do not be scared, do not send money by only receiving such emails like that.

I’d never fall for anything like this but if they did have a video of me masturbating I have nothing to be ashamed of & I certainly wouldn’t pay anybody bitcoin to not release the video

Lol, nice confident buddy but I don't think you can do it, seeing your face masturbating on a porn site is so disgusting.

But always remember that you should not give out your bitcoin to someone elese especially with this kind of scam, always be wise when doing some stuffs.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Anyway,I'm curious about how the scammers manage to gather a big email list,so they could mass email.

Most people are incredibly lax with the security of their emails, and willingly submit their email address to every ICO, airdrop, exchange, or other nonsense which offers them payment in some worthless untradeable token that's just been created out of thin air. It is trivially easy to collect thousands of email address of cryptocurrency users by launching a fake token. You can even get these users to advertise your fake token to other users, thereby gathering even more email addresses, by starting up a bounty and social media campaign and promising to pay them in your fake token. It literally costs you nothing. There are also huge lists of email addresses which can be bought, or even obtained for free, which have been leaked or hacked from various big centralized services.

[Krislaw]

Reason why it isn't good to use important email address for signing up for less important things like airdrops, bounties, newsletters and others. It's better to have a separate email for this.
I've never received such and would troll the scammer if I receive any from them

[pawanjain]

Thanks for the heads up. I wonder why have the scammers chose the same technique to scam the people again.
The only thing we can do is not to open any such suspicious emails and not provide our email address on every other site.
For better security is always better to use an alternative email for regular stuff and and the main email address on important sites.

[rdluffy]

Thanks so much for the tip, right now, it's true, believe me, my uncle call me on phone and ask me what to do because he received some e-mail asking for BTC and shows the right password that he uses
He was desperate, but I remembered this thread and translated to him, so it was very useful information my friend
You helped a person from Brazil  

[Baofeng]

If anyone is wondering how much money these cyber criminals are making? You will be surprised: Porn scammers making $100,000 a month from sextortion emails and
Following the money in a massive “sextortion” spam scheme.

[jseverson]

Wait, isn't it common practice to tape over your laptop webcam? I remember this going viral a few years ago with people following suit. That put me down the right path, personally.

But yeah, another thing to consider is that a video of a random ass male jacking off isn't exactly popular on the internet. Even if someone did put up your video out there, chances are no one is even going to look at it lmao.