CHARLOTTE, N.C. — We're clicking, and tapping, and "Nesting", but do we know where all that information is really going?
Cybersecurity experts say the latest internet scam is trying to prey on our insecurities about technological privacy.
"It starts off with a very short email. It just says, 'We've got some nude photos of you, which we're going to release,'" says Dr. Kiri Addison, Head of Data Science for Threat Intelligence at Mimecast.
Dr. Addison says the scammers demand Bitcoins in exchange keeping the images private--essentially, "sextortion."
Mimecast, which specializes in protecting businesses from email predators says, in a two-day period early in January, it intercepted nearly 2,000 emails that made these claims.
The emails direct users from one email account to another, giving them specific login information to use and links to click. Eventually, users are presented with generic video of a nondescript place, which looks like any place they might have visited in recent days and is alleged proof that the compromising images exist.
"I think there's some kind of social engineering aspect to it as well," says Dr. Addison. "So, it's getting the user more involved, drip-feeding information, getting them more and more worried over time, building up that kind of fear within the victim's mind."
Dr. Heather Lipford, a professor of Software and Information Systems at UNC Charlotte, says this scam uses panic to catch its victims, and usually, it's best to just ignore the threat.
"This is just an evolution of the same type of scam that has been going on for many years," says Dr. Lipford. "Don't do anything more. Don't click. Don't reply. Don't download an attachment."
In addition, Dr. Lipford recommends using good password practices. Choosing passwords that are unique to you and unique from account to account.
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