Better Business Bureau warning: porn scams take a new turn

WORLAND — BBB Scam Tracker has been receiving reports of an old scam with a new twist and while some area residents were targeted they did not fall victim to the scam and did not lose any money.

“Revenge porn” is the distribution, or threat of distribution, of explicit photos or videos of a victim in order to blackmail them. Sometimes the victim knows the perpetrator, and it’s personal. But often the scammer is a stranger and the goal of the blackmail can be phishing or smishing (to obtain money now), identity theft (to later impersonate the victim), or installation of malware on a computer (to steal passwords or expand the scam to others).

It seems that the media is reporting such threats on a daily basis, as a number of celebrities have been victims of revenge porn. It can happen via email, letter, or text. If you are threatened with this, do not click on any unknown links or download any attachments. Doing so could lead you to a fake site designed to trick you into giving up personal information or can download malware to your computer or mobile device.

A new twist on this scam presents victims with threats of revealing they watched or downloaded porn.

Even if you’ve never visited such a site or viewed such materials, don’t think that it can’t happen to you. The scammer will contact people and claim they have hacked their computer and activated their webcam, allowing them to access all the porn sites the victim has visited. The scammer then threatens to send that information to family, friends, co-workers, and more if a payment is not made.

Some Worland businesses and individuals have received the scam email.

A porn scam letter provided to the Northern Wyoming Daily News is written in poor English and grammar. It states, “Well, i placed a software on the adult streaming (adult porn) web-site and you know what, you visited this website to experience fun (you know what i mean). While you were viewing videos, your internet browser started operating as a Remote control Desktop having a key logger which provided me with access to your display screen and also webcam. immediately after that, my software program gathered all your contacts from your Messenger, social networks, as well as a e-mailaccount. and then i created a double video.”

According to the BBB, recent submissions to BBB Scam Tracker state the criminals want to be paid in Bitcoin, a virtual currency that is legitimate but very difficult to trace. They may also claim to have an old password and will download malware on your computer if you do not make a payment.

The letter provided to the NWDN states that the first solution is to skip the message and the video will be sent to the persons contacts.

The other option for the person is to pay the extortionist/scammer $2,000 in bitcoin. The letter states the person can search how to do this in “Google search engine.”

It ends with “if you have been thinking about going to the police, well, this email message can not be traced back to me. i have dealt with my moves … if you really want evidence reply Yes! and i definitely will send your video recording to your 14 friends.”

According to the BBB there are several red flags for people to be aware and realize it is a scam.

RED FLAGS:

•The scammer does not provide any details about what site you supposedly visited.

•The scammer cannot back up their threat with any evidence like a compromising screenshot to prove they have the information they claim.

•The scammer requests an urgent ransom be paid in gift cards, bitcoins or wire transfer.

The BBB offers the following tips to protect yourself from these and other scams.

PROTECT YOURSELF:

•Never send money!

•Do a security check on your computer OR if you haven’t done so already, install security software.

•Enable two-factor authentication on your important accounts.

•Change passwords often and consider getting a password manager to ensure your passwords are strong.

•Don’t respond to threats.

•If posted, ask websites to remove photos/videos.

•Never send compromising images of yourself to anyone, no matter who they are—or who they say they are.

•Do not open attachments from people you do not know.

•Turn off your electronic devices when you are not using them.

•Keep webcams covered when you’re not using them to ensure your peace of mind.