The New York State Police have issued a warning about a widespread sextortion scam where scammers use victims’ email addresses to demand payments, often through Bitcoin. These criminals claim to have personal information and images of the victims and threaten to publicly embarrass them unless they pay up.
Scammers obtain personal data from the dark web and contact victims, sometimes including photos of their residence to appear credible. They falsely claim to have installed tracking software on the victim’s devices and threaten to expose alleged pornographic material unless a ransom is paid within 24-48 hours.
Authorities stress that these claims are false and that the scammers do not have access to victims’ devices. If you receive one of these emails, do not engage. Instead, block the sender, delete the email, and report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov.
For further assistance, victims can contact their local FBI office or the New York State Police.
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