Have you ever had this unhealthy sensation of being accused of facts that do not concern you? To feel helpless in the face of an accusing mail, which, because of its imperative and accusing tone, has the gift of throwing us the opprobrium?

This is the purpose of this particular kind of sextortion mail that uses spoofing, to try to extort money from you. A message from a supposed “hacker” who claims to have hacked into your computer. He threatens you with publishing compromising images taken without your knowledge with your webcam and asks you for a ransom in virtual currency most of the time.

Something like that:

 

Date:  Friday, 24 May 2019 at 09:19 UTC+1
Subject: oneperson
Your account is hacked! Renew the pswd immediately!
You do not heard about me and you are definitely wondering why you’re receiving this particular electronic message, proper?
I’m ahacker who exploitedyour emailand digital devicesnot so long ago.
Do not waste your time and make an attempt to communicate with me or find me, it’s not possible, because I directed you a letter from YOUR own account that I’ve hacked.
I have started malware to the adult vids (porn) site and suppose that you watched this website to enjoy it (you understand what I mean).
Whilst you have been keeping an eye on films, your browser started out functioning like a RDP (Remote Control) that have a keylogger that gave me authority to access your desktop and camera.
Then, my softaquiredall data.
You have entered passcodes on the online resources you visited, I intercepted all of them.
Of course, you could possibly modify them, or perhaps already modified them.
But it really doesn’t matter, my app updates needed data regularly.
And what did I do?
I generated a reserve copy of every your system. Of all files and personal contacts.
I have managed to create dual-screen record. The 1 screen displays the clip that you were watching (you have a good taste, ha-ha…), and the second part reveals the recording from your own webcam.
What exactly must you do?
So, in my view, 1000 USD will be a reasonable amount of money for this little riddle. You will make the payment by bitcoins (if you don’t understand this, search “how to purchase bitcoin” in Google).
My bitcoin wallet address:
1816WoXDtSmAM9a4e3HhebDXP7DLkuaYAd
(It is cAsE sensitive, so copy and paste it).
Warning:
You will have 2 days to perform the payment. (I built in an exclusive pixel in this message, and at this time I understand that you’ve read through this email).
To monitorthe reading of a letterand the actionsin it, I utilizea Facebook pixel. Thanks to them. (Everything thatis usedfor the authorities may helpus.)

In the event I do not get bitcoins, I shall undoubtedly give your video to each of your contacts, along with family members, colleagues, etc?

 

Users who are victims of these scams receive a message from a stranger who presents himself as a hacker. This alleged “hacker” claims to have taken control of his victim’s computer following consultation of a pornographic site (or any other site that morality would condemn). The cybercriminal then announces having compromising videos of the victim made with his webcam. He threatens to publish them to the victim’s personal or even professional contacts if the victim does not pay him a ransom. This ransom, which ranges from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, is claimed in a virtual currency (usually in Bitcoin but not only).

To scare the victim even more, cybercriminals sometimes go so far as to write to the victim with his or her own email address, in order to make him or her believe that they have actually taken control of his or her account. 

First of all, there is no need to be afraid of it. Indeed, if the “piracy” announced by cybercriminals is not in theory impossible to achieve, in practice, it remains technically complex and above all time-consuming to implement. Since scammers target their victims by the thousands, it can be deduced that they would not have the time to do what they claim to have done. 

These messages are just an attempt at a scam. In other words, if you receive such a blackmail message and do not pay, nothing more will obviously happen. 

Then, no need to change your email credentials. Your email address is usually something known and already circulates on the Internet because you use it regularly on different sites to identify and communicate. These sites have sometimes resold or exchanged their address files with different partners more or less scrupulous in marketing objectives.

If cybercriminals have finally written to you with your own email address to make you believe that they have taken control of it: be aware that the sender’s address in a message is just a simple display that can very easily be usurped without having to have a lot of technical skills. 

In any case, the way to go is simple: don’t panic, don’t answer, don’t pay, just throw this mail in the trash (and don’t forget to empty it regularly). 

On the mail server side, setting up certain elements can help to prevent this kind of mail from spreading in the organization. This involves deploying the following measures on your mail server:

  •       SPF (Sender Policy Framework): This is a standard for verifying the domain name of the sender of an email (standardized in RFC 7208 [1]). The adoption of this standard is likely to reduce spam. It is based on the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) which does not provide a sender verification mechanism. SPF aims to reduce the possibility of spoofing by publishing a record in the DNS (Domain Name Server) indicating which IP addresses are allowed or forbidden to send mail for the domain in question.
  •         DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): This is a reliable authentication standard for the domain name of the sender of an email that provides effective protection against spam and phishing (standardized in RFC 6376 [2]). DKIM works by cryptographic signature, verifies the authenticity of the sending domain and also guarantees the integrity of the message.
  •       DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance): This is a technical specification to help reduce email misuse by providing a solution for deploying and monitoring authentication issues (standardized in RFC 7489 [3]). DMARC standardizes the way how recipients perform email authentication using SPF and DKIM mechanisms.

 

REFERENCES

[1] S. Kitterman, “Sender Policy Framework (SPF),” ser. RFC7208, 2014, https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7208

[2] D. Crocker, T. Hansen, M. Kucherawy, “DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) Signatures” ser. RFC6376, 2011,  https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6376

[3] M. Kuchewary, E. Zwicky, “Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC)”, ser. RFC7489, 2015, https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7489