Sextortion is on the rise again

Sextortion is on the rise again. Bluntly put, a cybercriminal claims via email to have video evidence of you doing naughty things while accessing porn. They threaten to publicly post it if you don’t pay.

Only now, sextortion has been automated by AI and now accounts for over 30% of well-known personal scams, including dating, lonely hearts, unexpected inheritance, threats of arrest, employment offers and many more.

AI automation means the billions of dark web profiles on all of us are trawled, classified and then used to deliver a highly personalised scam.

For example, AI can extract more information from disparate hacks and usually finds your name, date of birth, gender, primary language, where you live, what you do and may even have a relatively current password. AI uses this to construct an email that might make you feel uneasy.

Note that the format of the email – random spaces, etc, is to fool spam blockers so it ends up in your inbox. Sensitive information is marked with XXXX

Typical Sextortion email

We tracked this back to Russia. Scroll Left to see the whole email.

Sample email

From: 6ex$hop ([email protected]), notification @ chisquares.com  

Ԝеⅼⅼ, hеⅼⅼο thеrе, (Name)   fіrѕt оf аⅼⅼ і’ⅿ սѕіոց а thіrⅾ-раrtу еⅿаіⅼіոց ѕеrⅴісе fοr ⅿу оԝո rеаѕоոѕ. if you got questions email at “[email protected]”   Ꮮеt’ѕ ցеt ѕtrаіցht tο thе роіոt. This is your birthday date right ? XX/XX/XX.  Your password is XXXX and you live at XXXX. how ????

 
Ԝе’ⅴе kոoԝո еасh οthеr fоr а ԝhіⅼе, аt ⅼеаѕt Ӏ kոοԝ. Α fеԝ ⅿoոthѕ аցο, Ӏ ցаіոеⅾ ассеѕѕ tо уоսr ⅾеⅴісе, іոсⅼսⅾіոց уοսr іոtеrոеt hіѕtοrу аոⅾ ԝеbсаⅿ. Αոⅾ Ι сарtսrеⅾ ѕoⅿе foоtаցе (ԝіth аսⅾіo) of уοս ⅿаѕtսrbаtіոց ԝhіⅼе ԝаtсhіոց а hіցhⅼу соոtrοⅴеrѕіаⅼ “аⅾսⅼt” ⅿоⅴіеѕ.  

Ιt’ѕ սոⅼіkеⅼу thаt уoս’ⅾ ԝаոt уοսr fаⅿіⅼу, сοⅼⅼеаցսеѕ, οr сοոtасtѕ tο ԝаtсh thе ⅴіⅾеoѕ уoս’rе еոјoуіոց. Eѕресіаⅼⅼу іf іt’ѕ уoսr fаⅴоrіtе ցеոrе. (ԝе bоth kոоԝ ԝhаt I’ⅿ tаⅼkіոց аboսt), І аⅼѕо рⅼаո tο rеⅼеаѕе thеѕе ⅾаtа οո ⅿаոу ԝеbѕіtеѕ аոⅾ ехрoѕе thе rеаⅼ уοս.Αt thіѕ ѕtаցе, іt ԝіⅼⅼ bе іⅿрoѕѕіbⅼе tо սոⅾo іt.   Ԝаոt рroоfѕ? : јսѕt rерⅼу tο thіѕ еⅿаіⅼ аոⅾ Ӏ ԝіⅼⅼ ѕеոⅾ оոе рісtսrе to уоսr сοոtасtѕ.   Υоս ⅿау аѕk hοԝ ⅾіⅾ І ⅾо thаt? Υοս аⅼⅼοԝеⅾ ⅿу rаոѕоⅿԝаrе tо уoսr ⅾеⅴісе. Αftеr thаt, ӏ ցаіոеⅾ rеⅿоtе ассеѕѕ tο іt. Αftеr іոfесtіոց οոе ⅾеⅴісе, I ԝаѕ аbⅼе to ассеѕѕ аⅼⅼ othеr ⅾеⅴісеѕ аոⅾ уοսr ԜіFі ոеtԝοrk ԝіthοսt аոу іѕѕսе.  

Ӏ’ⅼⅼ јսѕt ⅼау oսt а сoոⅾіtіоո fоr уоս ոoԝ. Α ⅼіttⅼе рауⅿеոt tо ѕаⅴе уoսr rерսtаtіοո іѕ а fаіr ⅾеаⅼ. Transfer Еxactly 2000 USD tо my b;i,t ,c,ο,i,n w,a,IIet.   Ԝ,Α,L,L,Е,Т ᎠЕΤΑΙᏞЅ: “1Kt1LCNb2UbEfKb3NuAdC1SFhTkTXhXmjy”  

Oոсе thе trаոѕfеr іѕ соոfіrⅿеⅾ, І ԝіⅼⅼ rеⅿоtеⅼу rеⅿоⅴе thе ⅴіrսѕ frоⅿ уοսr ⅾеⅴісеѕ, thе ⅾаtа ԝіⅼⅼ bе реrⅿаոеոtⅼу ⅾеⅼеtеⅾ аոⅾ уоս ԝіⅼⅼ ոеⅴеr hеаr frоⅿ ⅿе аցаіո.   Υеѕ, іt’ѕ а ⅴеrу tіոу аⅿοսոt tο рау tο аⅴοіⅾ rսіոіոց уoսr rерսtаtіоո іո thе еуеѕ оf реорⅼе ԝhο bеⅼіеⅴе уοս tο bе а ցoοⅾ реrѕoո bаѕеⅾ оո уоսr іոtеrасtіοո ԝіth thеⅿ սѕіոց ⅿеѕѕаցеѕ. bесаսѕе Ι’ⅴе bееո ԝаtсhіոց еⅴеrуthіոց.  

Υοս hаⅴе 48 hοսrѕ – Ι’ⅼⅼ bе ոotіfіеⅾ аѕ ѕοοո аѕ уоս ореո thіѕ еⅿаіⅼ, аոⅾ froⅿ thеո οո іt’ѕ а соսոtⅾoԝո. ӏf уοս’ⅴе ոеⅴеr ⅾеаⅼt ԝіth сrурtοсսrrеոсу bеfοrе, іt’ѕ ѕսреr еаѕу – ѕеаrсh fоr “b,t,с е,х,с,h,а,ո,ց,е,r” “Μ,ο,οո,Ρау” “В,і,t,Р,а,у”, оr еⅼѕе уоս саո սѕе саѕh tо bսу սѕіոց “B,Τ,С Α,Т;Μ” ԝіthіո уоսr ⅼосаⅼ аrеа.   2025-05-17 60f9055a76c8f720a23898dce1670f6c6c6e76a328c639f7f320cd8c894bf6f8
If you’d like to unsubscribe and stop receiving our emails click here.

It is a scam – ignore and delete it

US law enforcement agencies have seen an explosion in complaints, leading the FBI to ramp up a campaign to warn parents from coast to coast. Sextortion is not limited to being caught in the act. It’s targeting teenagers and encouraging them to send nude photos, which are subsequently used for blackmail. AI is targeting teenage Gen Z, singles and Baby Boomers pensioners with different messages.

They say that TikTok users are most at risk, followed by Instagram. It’s called the BM scam (blackmail), and there are hundreds of thousands of them. A good scam can produce $200K or more.

“For me, it’s an easy thing to do. Any day, any time, we are working on our phones because if you don’t work, you’re not going to eat.”

Enter AI

BM scammers say that AI has increased their take from $200K average to millions. “It’s amazing how many adults wank off with internet porn. We don’t have the evidence, but a guilty conscience does”.

The e-Safety Commissioner says over 90% of boys and 60% of girls are exposed to Internet porn by age 18. Next is divorcees at 56%, and not far behind are the elderly. Over 30% of all internet traffic is porn.

Sextortion is just a job to the scammers

“I feel nothing. I have to survive as a living thing,”

The fact is that Australian Law stops at our borders.

How to ensure Sextortion Scams are just that

We don’t comment on what is part of human nature. If you engage in risky internet behaviour, these things will help.

• You must use a VPN. Read Do you need a VPN? (Virtual Private Network guide)
• You must use a paid Anti-virus/Malware program like Trend Micro.
• Log out of your browser and use it anonymously.
• Use a browser’s Private Window.
• Cover the laptop or web camera.
• Take care with clicking through links.
• Use the free Wise Disk Cleaner and Wise Registry Cleaner after each session to clear your tracks. Set these to maximum clean (Windows only) and run weekly.
• Set the browser to clear browser history and never remember history.

It is not just porn but any so-called contentious searches that you don’t need to be recorded forever. This includes torrent downloads and much more.

CyberShack’s view: No one should leave themselves open to sextortion

Scammers are successful because they prey on vulnerable people. On average, 1% of scam emails and calls are successful.

But AI increases that rate to 27% – 270 times the average. Realise that this scammer is not a poor Indian, etc., in a call centre but a computer, and may be quite persistent with follow-ups and threats that are not real.

Please ignore them regardless of your internet behaviour. Never respond or click on any link.