Cyber security professionals discovered a new variant of email scam that uses the email subject “This is my final warning“. It states that someone named ‘Anonymous Hacker’ have hacked your computer and will release a video ostensibly taken via your web-camera, if you don’t pay a $2,000 payment through bitcoin. The recipient has 72 hours to send the ransom.
“This is my final warning” email scam
There are variations in the wording of the e-mail body. The scammers constantly switch up the body of the email scam in order to bypass spam filters. The original “This is my final warning” email scam is:
From: Anonymous Hacker Subject: This is my final warning FINAL WARNING [YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS] You have the last chance to save your social life – I am not kidding!! I give you the last 72 hours to make the payment before I send the video with your masturbation to all your friends and associates. The last time you visited a erotic website with young Teens, you downloaded and installed the software I developed. My program has turned on your camera and recorded your act of Masturbation and the video you were masturbating to. My software also downloaded all your email contact lists and a list of your Facebook friends. I have both the ‘Support.mp4′ with your masturbation and a file with all your contacts on my hard drive. You are very perverted! If you want me to delete both files and keep your secret, you must send me Bitcoin payment. I give you the last 72 hours. If you don’t know how to send Bitcoins, search Google. Send 2000 USD to this Bitcoin address immediately: 3GrKu6euaMjz8FN9HZxgSxiZ7PtESKCPcu (copy and paste) 1 BTC = 3850 USD right now, so send exactly 0.529130 BTC to the address above. Do not try to cheat me! As soon as you open this Email I will know you opened it. This Bitcoin address is linked to you only, so I will know if you sent the correct amount. When you pay in full, I will remove both files and deactivate my software. If you don’t send the payment, I will send your masturbation video to ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES from your contact list I acquired. Here are the payment details again: Send 0.529130 BTC to this Bitcoin address: —————————————- 38JdCRfZaVdLYZ3CsdRGwfc1vvRNAVgq1n —————————————- You саn visit the police but nobody will help you. I know what I am doing. I don’t live in your country and I know how to stay anonymous. Don’t try to deceive me – I will know it immediately – my spy ware is recording all the websites you visit and all keys you press. If you do – I will send this ugly recording to everyone you know, including your family. Don’t cheat me! Don’t forget the shame and if you ignore this message your life will be ruined. I am waiting for your Bitcoin payment. Lesha Anonymous Hacker P.S. If you need more time to buy and send 0.529130 BTC, open your notepad and write ’48h plz’. I will consider giving you another 48 hours before I release the vid, but only when I see you are really struggling to buy bitcoin. ------------------ You have the last chance to save your social life - I am not kidding!! I give you the last 72 hours to make the payment before I send the video with your masturbation to all your friends and associates. The last time you visited a erotic website with young Teens, you downloaded and installed the software I developed. My program has turned on your camera and recorded your act of Masturbation and the video you were masturbating to. My software also downloaded all your email contact lists and a list of your Facebook friends. I have both the 'Public.mp4' with your masturbation and a file with all your contacts on my hard drive. You are very perverted! If you want me to delete both files and keep your secret, you must send me Bitcoin payment. I give you the last 72 hours. If you don't know how to send Bitcoins, visit Google.
Thousands of people around the world have received this email scam, so you are one of many. While terrifying at first, it is classic Bitcoin Email Scam. The Bitcoin Email Scam is old extortion scheme – which try to guilt people into paying off someone claiming to have secretly recorded video or compromising information.
Scammers will try to rush you, pressure you to make a decision to pay him. We recommend you do not pay a ransom, because your payment will only increase attacks against you.
What to do when you receive “This is my final warning” email scam
Relax, Here are some easy steps which you need to follow after receiving these emails.
- Do not panic.
- Do not pay the ransom.
- Do not respond to the email spam.
- If there’s a link in the scam email, do not click it, otherwise you could unwittingly install malware or ransomware on your computer.
- Report the email spam to the FTC at https://www.ftc.gov/
- Scan your computer for malware.
- Install an anti-phishing software.
- If you receive an email that is similar but not the same as the example above, make sure you remove any personal info in this message, then post it as comment on this article. It will help our team monitor the latest scams.
How to Scan your computer for malware
There are a few solutions which can be used to scan your personal computer for malicious software. In many cases you’re not able to uninstall any malware using standard Windows options. In order to remove malware you need use reliable removal tools. Most cyber threat analysts states that Zemana and other tools listed below are a right choice. These programs are able to look for and remove malware from your PC and return your system settings to defaults.
Thinking about scan your computer for malware? Then pay attention to Zemana AntiMalware. This is a well-known tool, originally created just to scan for and remove malware, adware and PUPs. But by now it has seriously changed and can not only rid you of malware, but also protect your computer from malicious software and adware, as well as find and delete common viruses and trojans.
Click the following link to download Zemana. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
164032 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Once downloading is finished, close all windows on your PC system. Further, run the setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as shown on the image below, click the “Yes” button.
It will display the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Zemana AntiMalware on the personal computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once installation is finished successfully, Zemana will automatically run and you can see its main window as displayed on the image below.
Next, click the “Scan” button to start checking your machine for malicious software. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your PC and the speed of your personal computer.
When the scan is complete, Zemana Free will display a scan report. All found threats will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click “Next” button.
The Zemana will remove malicious software and move threats to the program’s quarantine. After disinfection is complete, you may be prompted to reboot your PC system.
How to protect yourself from phishing web-sites
If you browse the Internet, you cannot avoid phishing websites. But you can protect your web browser against it. Download and use an ad-blocking program. AdGuard is an ad-blocking which can filter out lots of of phishing web-sites, stoping dynamic scripts from loading malicious content.
Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard on your personal computer from the link below.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
After downloading it, double-click the downloaded file to launch it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown in the following example.
Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick instructions as on the image below.
Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guidance which will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you launch your machine, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted advertisements, block phishing, harmful or misleading pages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which can be found on your desktop.
