Solved Dodgy Email

[Kula]

I have various email accounts for things like competitions, etc, which I know will gather spam, so these I don't check often. Just going through them today, I noticed I received one back in October, which was rather disturbing. It was like a ransom email which quoted my email address, and a password. It said, through my camera on my device, they had seen what sites I had visited, and got names of all my contacts and relatives, and that they had seen sites of intimate content, which they would send to everyone, if I did not pay up within 48 hours, and that a trojan had been installed on my system.
I have not visited any dodgy sites to be worried about, and the password they gave is not one I use for any online purchases or shopping sites, it's just the fact he says he has my password that is a concern. I have not had any malware warnings from my anti virus. I'm not sure whether I have used this password on my phone, tablet or pc, but I'm concerned. As I said, this was in October, and I haven't received any other emails of this kind, but it's still disturbing.

 

[eddie5659]

Hi

By any chance, was it like this one that is doing the rounds:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/08/how-avoid-bitcoin-blackmail-scam?page=1

 

[Kula]

Yes, very similar.

 

[eddie5659]

Its just a phishing email, someone in my office had something like that this week, they rang the police etc, and after they explained everything, they were advised to delete it, as they had many calls regarding the exact same type of email

Whatever that password was for, change it. It may be from a very old account you used years ago, or an old password that you have since changed.

 

[Kula]

It is an old password, but I still use it on a couple of sites, but no sites with credit card information or anything. I think I'll go through all the sites I use regularly, and change all the passwords. Better safe than sorry eh! Thanks for putting my mind at ease.

 

[eddie5659]

No worries, glad to hear its not a password that has any financial details etc. Its also, like you say, better to be safe than sorry