'FINAL WARNING' Email Scam
Online extortion tactics have been a popular tool used by cyber crooks to generate revenue for many years now. One of the popular iterations of this scheme is called ‘sextortion.’ This type of fraud consists of an ill-minded actor who sends innocent users emails claiming that they are in possession of pornographic images or videos of them, and unless the target pays them a hefty sum, the material will be distributed to their contacts. This type of tactic is growing in popularity, and it is unfortunate how many users readily fall for it. One of the newest sextortion tactics is called ‘FINAL WARNING’ email scam.
Threats to Publish Pornographic Images and Home Addresses of Targets
The con artists behind the ‘FINAL WARNING’ email scam have made sure to really strike fear in the hearts of their targets. The user would receive an email, which states that the attackers are in possession of explicit images of the victim, and unless the user pays $1,500 in Bitcoin, all the compromising material would be forwarded to their family, friends, and work colleagues. Furthermore, the scammers claim to have photos of the victim’s car and house. They state that unless the user pays up the sum demanded, their address and car number plate will be made public alongside their pornographic images.
The authors of the ‘FINAL WARNING’ scam also make it seem like the extortion email that the user has received is their ‘final warning’ (hence the name) as they have been ignoring previous messages from the attackers. However, this is nothing more than a social engineering trick used to put additional pressure on the user to comply with the demands of the scammers. If the targeted user pays up, the attackers claim that they will wipe out all the compromising material they have on them.
Fortunately, all the fraudsters’ claims are false, and they do not have any blackmail material on their targets. They simply rely on intimidating the user enough to make them consider paying the fee without checking the legitimacy of the attackers’ claims. If you have received an email linked to the ‘FINAL WARNING’ scam campaigns, we would advise you to ignore the message and move on with your day.
