when spam goes feral

Just received in spam:

i know [removed password]* is one of your password.
I've recorded your cam while you were watching porn on XX sites, also I've installed a keylogger on ur pc & collected all your contacts on social networks, messenger & emails.
If you want me to erase the recording, pay me 1128$ on bitcoin address: [removed bitcoin address]
(search in Google for "how to buy bitcoin"), [case SenSitiVe so copy & paste it].
If I don't get the bitcoins, I will definately send your video to all of your contacts, don't reply to this email it's hacked. [random letters]

Dear Spammer,
I have indeed been mourning how far spam has fallen from the halcyon days of so many breast and penis implants and naked pictures of C list actors, so gotta thank you there.

But.

1.) That isn't my current password and hasn't been for a while; note the lack of special characters or not being a phrase. And also because I know the accounts I used it on were ones that showed up on dump lists after more than one major server hack. I'm thinking it was Home Depot.

2.) My dude(tte), a.) I don't watch porn (I read it) and b.) my contacts are either fangirls or my family. Which means even if I did, they either recced it to me (fangirls) or a.) will be relieved to discover I do at least one normal thing on the internet (mom), b.) go check it out to see if they like it (my BIL, sisters), or c.) delete it without looking because who the fuck wants to see their mother's porn (son).

3.) Bitcoin? Really?

Love,
Me

For anyone else who might get one of these, see this entry in reddit about these emails. It's pretty much guaranteed the password association is from one of those worryingly frequent database breaches that happen to companies with poor understanding of network security.

Comments

SPAM reflects current anxieties

[jesse_the_k]

I get a weekly spam report from Pobox, my email provider. In the past week, two-thirds--more than 130--have been about "no contact thermometers."

[silverflight8]

Actual modern blackmail.

[abbylee]

I use email forwarders (aka, a different alias on my own domain) for each thing I sign up for, and it's fascinating. Both to see how rare it is to get targeted spam and to be able to identify "yup, this is exactly which breach is responsible for this spam". Right now I'm getting email from adobe and last.fm breaches.

[lilacsigil]

I got this one at work on a computer with no webcam, which was exciting! I love being able to see which sites got hacked, though, it's highly entertaining.

[krait]

Someone on a forum I frequent got one of these, too, with an old blog password, and several people were fortunately quick to point out that all they have is the password; the purpose is to scare you into believing the rest based on the shock value of seeing an Actual Password You Have Used, even though it's not a critical or even current one.

Mostly I'm just laughing at a spammer demanding $1128 in bitcoin - what a bizarrely specific amount!

[timespirt]

Bahahah I hope I never get one of those hon.

[sian1359]

When I got a mess of these last year, if was from the password I used for Live Journal before I deleted the account. I still get one or two a month. The bitcoin amount has gone up. They were asking for less than 500 when it first started.

[torch]

I didn't even get the "I've got your pw haha!" thing, just "I saw you watching porn!" Which, considering my webcam- and porn-free state, is truly impressive.

No, wait, I lie, I have watched a couple free things on pornhub (nothing I would rec, though). Still no webcam...

These days, I'd expect it to be "Send a face mask, all your hand sanitizer, and food for a month!"

[seperis]

I think I may have a few horrifying redtube during the days we'd traumatize each other with those. However, on the upside, I learned (in visual detail) what hentai really was, so education is never wasted.

[litalex]

I get those on my work email occasionally. I always just delete them as I don't watch pr0n on my work computer...

[metal_dog5]

Every few weeks I get a number of these emails on my junk filter email account, but without a password reference, which makes me think the email address is the only thing that's been scraped.

I'd love to know how I'm being recorded (I refuse to get a webcam) not watching porn. Maybe all my contacts would be really interested in watching me read, or gaming. Who knows?

[seperis]

I mean, if they have my reading material from mcstories and asstr, come on, I rec those in DW and LJ sometimes, especially the sketchy ones. So--yeah.