So I advised my counsel-seekers to take a few steps.
While you’re at it, go ahead and cover up that webcam.
(Brian Krebs, another journalist who investigated the scam, has more tips here as well as an inquiry into who might be behind it.) Ryan Kalember, senior vice president at Proofpoint, a cybersecurity firm, shared my instincts.
"He was pretty embarrassed but the fear of something happening overpowered the embarrassment."Brendan managed to talk his friend down.
He took the phone and messaged the the girl pretending to be a police officer.
Sent me a list of all my contacts and a copy of the video.
I stressed out for a while, called the cops they said they couldn't do anything about it.
Rather, the delinquent is bluffing—frightening unsuspecting victims into forking over cryptocurrency.
In every case I encountered, Have I Been Pwned showed the passwords to have spilled as part of a dataset originating in a 2012 breach of Linked In—a relief.
I certainly have not received any salacious materials featuring their private acts. If ever someone tries to scare or intimidate you into performing some action, like paying a ransom, always treat the threat with extra scrutiny. If you’ve been the target of a similar scam, I would love to hear from you.
One day in Melbourne, when the sun was out and the birds were singing, Matt opened an email and was greeted with a video of a man wanking.
But then they replied with a screenshot of his Facebook friends, and personal details from his website. Security software companies, who may have an interest in exaggerating the threat, say they have detected vast numbers of attacks.