CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A new scam involving threats, pornography and personal information is making its way around the internet, and WCNC Charlotte found out about it when ones of our own team members was a target.
It's part of Michelle Boudin's job to open emails from strangers all the time, but one she received recently stopped her cold.
The person who emailed her claimed they used spyware on an app on her phone and had “footage inside my house," “had extracted quite a bit of juicy info from my system” and had access to all of her emails, contacts and social media accounts. What made the threat feel real was what was included in the email: A photo of her neighborhood.
Michelle was wise enough to go straight to the FBI to get some answers.
"We have seen this scam come up fairly recently, " FBI spokesperson Shelley Lynch said.
When Michelle sat down to talk about the email, Michelle admitted that she's probably more aware than the average person and opening that email still alarmed her because it was so comprehensive. It included her home address, her personal email address, even a picture of her neighborhood.
"I know its personal to you, but its also very easily accessible public information," Lynch explained.
And, of course, the email didn't end with just that information sharing. It demanded she send $2,000 to a bitcoin account. The FBI confirmed that account is an active link.
"While they are threatening you, they’re saying they have very personal info that they will release on the internet to your friends or contact list," Lynch added. "They're also saying you can trust them. If you just pay this fee, all these bad things to embarrass you will all go away. You just need to trust them and pay that fee."
Lynch said this is most likely an organized group phishing for anyone who will bite.
"There are networks of people," Lynch said. "This isn't one person. More than likely, there's a very large network overseas that this is their full-time job, finding some way to cast a wide net and catch as many people as they can and victimize them."
Lynch has some tips for people who may get a similar email:
- Ignore it, don't respond.
- Get in the habit of changing passwords regularly, and make sure you have different passwords for different accounts and apps.
- Make sure to get device updates when they're available.
Here are some other tips to avoid becoming a victim of a scam:
- Emotional appeal - Any pitch that ratchets up your emotion will inhibit your rational judgment.
- Sense of urgency - You MUST act now, or else.
- Request for unorthodox payment - Gift cards, prepaid credit cards, wire transfers, etc.
- Explanations that don't ring true - If your new “landlord” can’t show you the inside of the house, that could be because they don’t own it.
- You won, now pay up - It’s not a prize if you have to pay for it. Taxes, fees, shipping, whatever.
- Too good to be true - That’s because it’s not true. Sorry, your long-lost relative didn’t die, leaving you millions. That car you bought online for a third of its Kelly Blue Book value doesn’t really exist. The son of a billionaire diamond broker didn’t “swipe right” on you and fall instantly in love. That work-at-home job paying you hundreds of dollars an hour for stuffing envelopes isn’t real.
Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.