The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are warning Internet users to beware of a cyber scam known as “sextortion,” which is an email scam that attempts to extort victims by threatening to release sexually explicit content.
The attacker demands that victims send a specified amount of money within 24 to 48 hours.
The threat is that if money is not paid, the recording will be sent to every contact in the victim’s phone. The emails often include a password, phone numbers or other information to convince the victim they have been hacked and their personal information has been accessed.
Victims’ information was most likely gathered through an unknown data security breach. Citizens are reminded to protect themselves from sextortion attempts by taking the following steps:
1. Never send money, digital currency, buy a gift card or comply with the demands of an email.
2. Avoid using obvious passwords or the same passwords across multiple sites.
3. Enable two-factor authentication whenever possible on all of your personal accounts.
4. Keep webcams covered when you are not using them. 5. Go to https://haveibeenpwned.com/ or https://dehashed.com to see if your email was compromised in a security data breech.
