North Vancouver RCMP are warning the public after receiving several reports of a disturbing online blackmail attempt.
Perpetrators in the scam start by emailing a potential victim, warning them that malicious software on their computer has logged them accessing pornography and covertly captured compromising photos or videos of them.
They then attempt to extort money from the victims, telling them to transfer $2,000 via a Bitcoin wallet or they will send the video to the victims’ family and friends.
“Don’t even try to escape from this. You have no idea what I’m capable of in North Vancouver,” one such email read.
It may come across as a hollow threat, but the suspect ratchets things up a notch by attaching a photo of their potential victim’s home, along with personal details including their name and date of birth.
“It felt very threatening,” said one North Vancouver resident who contacted the North Shore News about the scam. “They were able to link my email and my name and they obviously have the address, which was more disturbing to me than anything.”
Despite the personal information that the scammers had, the woman said she became immediately suspicious when she saw the suspect had misspelled her last name. Rather than sending Bitcoin, she called police.
The North Vancouver RCMP received four such reports in two days.
“Thankfully, in all of the four cases reported to the police, the victim did not comply with the demands and called police immediately,” said Const. Mansoor Sahak, North Vancouver RCMP spokesperson.
Sahak said the victims’ personal data could have been all gleaned from publicly accessible information online including social media, or it could have come from a data breach elsewhere. The images of the victims’ homes most likely came from Google Earth.
“There’s a lot of open source information that scammers can get a hold of,” he said.
Although it may seem threatening, it is unlikely that the scammers in this case actually captured any surreptitious photos or videos, Sahak added.
“So far, from all the victims that we’ve had, [the suspects] have not provided any images of the victim, so it’s just merely them saying that they have images,” he said.
But, Sahak said, the cases should serve as a warning for people to be extremely cautious with what personal information they share online.
Anyone who suspects they are being targeted in a scam
If you are a victim of sextortion, immediately stop all communication with the suspect, police say. Deactivate but don’t delete any of the accounts you are using to communicate with them, police advise, and do not comply with the threats by sending money or photos.
“The situation will not get better by doing either of these things,” a statement from the RCMP reads.
If you have sent money, check to see if it has been collected and, if not, quickly cancel the payment.
Any such scam attempts should be reported to police. In the event of an investigation, keep all correspondence with the suspects including their usernames, social media account information, a copy of the communications, along with any images and/or videos that were sent.
