Sextortion Scam and How to Protect Yourself

Sextortion is a type of sexual blackmail using the threat of releasing sensitive imagery, audio or video of potential victims to scare them into paying a ransom.

How to Recognise Sextortion

Sextortion scams falsely claim the attackers have video recordings or images showing the potential victims' in intimate moments. The attackers often emphasise the humiliation and embarrassment of the situation to blackmail the victim into paying them money, often in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Attackers may show potential victims' old and leaked passwords to make their message more credible. However, leaked passwords are sold on the dark web and attackers can easily use them for their campaigns to cause additional concern

How to Protect Yourself

Stay calm - in reality, the attacker does not actually own any recordings and is using social engineering techniques to scare and shame you to encourage you to pay. Do not respond and don’t pay any money.

Change your password - if the attacker highlights an old password that’s leaked, change it to a unique passphrase or to a long, complex password that uses characters, symbols and numbers.