Remove “We Hacked Your System” sextortion email

The “We Hacked Your System” email falls into the sextortion scam category. The email claims that the recipient’s computer was infected with a virus when they visited a pornography website. The supposed malware gave its operators full access to the infected computer, which allowed them to spy on the recipient. The malicious actors behind this email claim to have made a video of the recipient watching pornography and threaten to send it to all family and friends if a sum of $1,300 is not paid. The contents of the email are all false, so there is no need to pay anything or even pay any attention to the email.

 

 

The “We Hacked Your System” email is a classic example of a sextortion scam. These types of emails are very common. While the emails may be worded differently and operated by different cybercriminals, they all more or less look the same. The emails aim to scare recipients by making fake claims about malware on their computers and threatening to release fake explicit videos of them watching pornography.

Like is usual with sextortion emails, the “We Hacked Your System” sextortion email goes straight to the point and claims that the recipient’s computer has been hacked. Supposedly, the recipient’s computer was infected with malware when they visited a pornography website. The malware infection supposedly gave its operators full access to the device, including the ability to turn on the camera and microphone. The malicious actors claim to have filmed the recipient watching pornography and threaten to send the video to all contacts, which they have also supposedly stolen. The senders of the email demand that the recipient pay $1,300 in Bitcoin.

Everything written in this email is entirely fake. There is no malware, nor has a video been recorded. Paying the requested sum or even engaging with these scammers is not necessary. Though sextortion emails can initially seem intimidating, a closer look reveals their absurdity. Scammers use various anxiety-inducing tactics to intimidate users into paying, but they are often unsuccessful. These emails are usually written in a mocking tone, attempting to shame recipients for their alleged pornography viewing habits. The threat of sending explicit content associated with them to the recipient’s contacts is particularly effective, even for those who have never visited adult websites. Fortunately, these sextortion emails are very easily recognizable as scams, so they are unlikely to trick many people.

The full text from the “We Hacked Your System” email scam is below:

Consider this message as your last warning.

We hacked your system!

We have copied all the data from your device to our own servers.

Curious videos were recorded from your camera and your actions while watching porn.

Your device was infected with our virus when you visited the porn site.
The Trojan virus gives us full access, allows us to control your device.

The virus allows not only to see your screen, but also to turn on your camera, microphone, without your knowledge.
We took over the video from your screen and camera, then we mounted a video in which you can see you watching porn in one part of the screen and masturbating in the other.

But that’s not all! We have access to all the contacts in your phone book and social networks.

It won’t take us long to send this video to your friends, family and friends on social networks, messengers and email in minutes.

We have a lot of audio recordings of your personal conversations, where a lot of “interesting” things are revealed!

This information can destroy your reputation once and for all in a matter of minutes.
You have an opportunity to prevent irreversible consequences.

To do this:

Transfer 1300 $ USD (US dollars) to our bitcoin wallet.
Don’t know how to make a transfer? Enter the query “Buy bitcoins” into the search field.

Our bitcoin wallet bc1qj2aesryeq0yhg6ntk4s8n2sssgtpde4a2jt5eq
After making the payment, your video and audio recordings will be completely destroyed and you can be 100% sure that we won’t bother you again.

You have time to think about it and make the transfer – 50 hours!
After you read this letter, we will get an automatic notification. From that moment on, the timer will start.

It is useless to complain, because bitcoin-wallets cannot be tracked, as well as the mail from which the letter arrived to you.

We also do not advise you to send this letter to anybody.
In this case the system will automatically send a request to the server, and all data will be published in social networks and messengers.

You will not be able to solve the problem by changing passwords in social networks, as all the information is already downloaded to the cluster of our servers.

Think about what your reputation means to you and how much the consequences will be.
You have 50 hours.

Why did you receive a sextortion scam email

Sextortion email scammers often assert that their victims have received these emails due to malware infecting their computers. In reality, the reason users receive sextortion emails is that their email addresses have been leaked. Data breaches are very common because of poor security, and unfortunately, information like email addresses is leaked all the time. Leaked email addresses are commonly traded on hacker forums, where they are purchased by other cybercriminals. Therefore, if you’ve received this “We Hacked Your System” sextortion email, it’s likely that your email address was leaked. You can verify this by checking on HaveIBeenPwned. If your email address has indeed been compromised, there’s little you can do aside from being extra cautious with unsolicited emails, particularly those with attachments or links.

In some instances, malicious actors may even disclose users’ passwords, which enhances the credibility of their threat. Many people may wonder how the sender could know their password if not because they had hacked computers. However, the reality is that passwords are stolen in a similar manner to email addresses. Many platforms have inadequate security practices and may store passwords in plain text, making them vulnerable during a cyber breach. Like email addresses, these passwords are often sold on hacker forums. If you have unique passwords for each of your accounts and receive a sextortion email that contains a specific password, you can identify which service was compromised. Should you ever receive an extortion email that reveals a password you use, change it right away. It’s best to never reuse passwords. Create complex passwords that include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. For those who have trouble generating strong passwords, password managers can be incredibly helpful.