What is the “I Have To Share Bad News With You” email scam

The “I Have To Share Bad News With You” email falls into the sextortion scam email category. It’s a fake email that claims malware has been installed on your device and an explicit video of you watching pornography has been made. The sender threatens to send the video to all of your contacts unless you agree to pay $950 in Bitcoin. The contents of the email are all fake so you can ignore the email.

 

 

The “I Have To Share Bad News With You” email is a very typical sextortion scam email. Even when operated by different malicious actors, sextortion emails are all more or less the same because they follow the same pattern. The emails first catch users’ attention with alarming subject lines like “Payment from your account”. If users are alarmed enough to open this particular “I Have To Share Bad News With You” email scam, they will be greeted with an even more unsettling message that their computers have been hacked and the sender has complete access to them. The sender claims to have been tracking the recipients’ Internet activities as well.

The email sender claims to have purchased access to the recipient’s email account from hackers, which somehow allowed them to infect all of their devices with a trojan. The explanation for how the infection entered users’ computers is complete nonsense but the scam counts on users being alarmed enough to not actually read the email closely. The trojan supposedly gave the “hacker” complete access to the infected device, including the ability to turn the microphone and camera on/off. The supposed hacker claims to have noticed that the email recipient visits adult websites, which prompted them to make an explicit video of them watching pornography. The supposed video shows the adult video on one side and the recipient watching it on the other. The sender also claims to have stolen all contacts and threatens to release the video to all of them unless a payment of $950 is made in Bitcoin to one of the provided wallet addresses.

It goes without saying that paying anything to these scammers would be a complete waste of money. Users’ computers are not infected with malware, nor is there a video of them watching pornography.

Sextortion emails initially appear alarming but they are complete nonsense. Scammers rely on various scare tactics to pressure users into paying. Emails are written in a very mocking tone, with the sender making fun of the user’s supposed pornography viewing habits. The threat to send an explicit video to all contacts is particularly effective, even among users who have never visited pornography websites.

The full contents of the “I Have To Share Bad News With You” email scam are below:

Subject: Payment from your account.

Greetings!

I have to share bad news with you.
Approximately few months ago I have gained access to your devices, which you use for internet browsing.
After that, I have started tracking your internet activities.

Here is the sequence of events:
Some time ago I have purchased access to email accounts from hackers (nowadays, it is quite simple to purchase such thing online).
Obviously, I have easily managed to log in to your email account (-).

One week later, I have already installed Trojan virus to Operating Systems of all the devices that you use to access your email.
In fact, it was not really hard at all (since you were following the links from your inbox emails).
All ingenious is simple. =)

This software provides me with access to all the controllers of your devices (e.g., your microphone, video camera and keyboard).
I have downloaded all your information, data, photos, web browsing history to my servers.
I have access to all your messengers, social networks, emails, chat history and contacts list.
My virus continuously refreshes the signatures (it is driver-based), and hence remains invisible for antivirus software.

Likewise, I guess by now you understand why I have stayed undetected until this letter…

While gathering information about you, I have discovered that you are a big fan of adult websites.
You really love visiting porn websites and watching exciting videos, while enduring an enormous amount of pleasure.
Well, I have managed to record a number of your dirty scenes and montaged a few videos, which show the way you masturbate and reach orgasms.

If you have doubts, I can make a few clicks of my mouse and all your videos will be shared to your friends, colleagues and relatives.
I have also no issue at all to make them available for public access.
I guess, you really don’t want that to happen, considering the specificity of the videos you like to watch, (you perfectly know what I mean) it will cause a true catastrophe for you.

Let’s settle it this way:
You transfer $950 USD to me (in bitcoin equivalent according to the exchange rate at the moment of funds transfer), and once the transfer is received, I will delete all this dirty stuff right away.
After that we will forget about each other. I also promise to deactivate and delete all the harmful software from your devices. Trust me, I keep my word.

This is a fair deal and the price is quite low, considering that I have been checking out your profile and traffic for some time by now.
In case, if you don’t know how to purchase and transfer the bitcoins – you can use any modern search engine.

Here is my bitcoin wallet: –

You have less than 48 hours from the moment you opened this email (precisely 2 days).

Things you need to avoid from doing:
*Do not reply me (I have created this email inside your inbox and generated the return address).
*Do not try to contact police and other security services. In addition, forget about telling this to you friends. If I discover that (as you can see, it is really not so hard, considering that I control all your systems) – your video will be shared to public right away.
*Don’t try to find me – it is absolutely pointless. All the cryptocurrency transactions are anonymous.
*Don’t try to reinstall the OS on your devices or throw them away. It is pointless as well, since all the videos have already been saved at remote servers.

Things you don’t need to worry about:
*That I won’t be able to receive your funds transfer.
– Don’t worry, I will see it right away, once you complete the transfer, since I continuously track all your activities (my trojan virus has got a remote-control feature, something like TeamViewer).
*That I will share your videos anyway after you complete the funds transfer.
– Trust me, I have no point to continue creating troubles in your life. If I really wanted that, I would do it long time ago!

Everything will be done in a fair manner!

One more thing… Don’t get caught in similar kind of situations anymore in future!
My advice – keep changing all your passwords on a frequent basis

Why did you receive a sextortion scam email

Sextortion email scammers always claim that users received the email because their computers have been hacked. However, the reality is that users’ email addresses have been leaked and sold on a hacker forum. Data like email addresses is leaked all the time, whether because of a company’s mistake or a cyberattack. Stolen or leaked email addresses end up on hacker forums for other cybercriminals to buy.

Unfortunately, if you received a sextortion email, it most likely means your email address has been part of a breach. You can check on HaveIBeenPwned. If it has been leaked, there’s not much you can do but at least you can be more vigilant with unsolicited emails, especially if they contain an attachment.

In some cases, malicious actors operating these scam campaigns also reveal users’ passwords. This is an effective tactic and adds credibility to the email because in users’ minds, how else would the sender have their password if not because they hacked the computer? In reality, passwords are stolen much the same way as email addresses. Unfortunately, a lot of services and platforms have poor security and store passwords in plaintext, which means passwords would easily be stolen during a cyberattack. Just like email addresses, passwords end up on hacker forums. If you use unique passwords and receive a sextortion email with a specific password, you can easily determine which service leaked it.

You can check whether your passwords have been leaked here. If an extortion email ever reveals a password you use, change it immediately for all accounts you use it for. Ideally, passwords should be unique for all accounts. Passwords should also be difficult to guess, and be made up of combinations of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Password managers are great tools if you struggle with password creation.