THIS IS NOT A JOKE Email Scam

What is "THIS IS NOT A JOKE"?

People behind the "THIS IS NOT A JOKE" spam campaign are scammers who send this email to many people hoping that a percentage of them will take it seriously. The main purpose of this email is to trick recipients into transferring money to cyber criminals.

The scammers claim that they have recorded a compromising video of the user and will distribute it if their demands are not met. Note that this is just one of many similar scams and should not be trusted. The best solution is to simply ignore this email and others of its kind.

Scammers claim that the recipient of this email has visited an adult website and, in doing so, triggered download and installation of software (supposedly a remote access tool). They state that this program allowed them to access the user's webcam and they have recorded a compromising video.

Furthermore, the installed software apparently also downloaded all email and Facebook contacts. Scammers behind this email threaten to proliferate the video if their demands to pay $2000 are not met within 72 hours. A Bitcoin wallet address is provided for transfer of the ransom amount in a cryptocurrency.

As we mentioned earlier, this a common scam. Unfortunately, scams of this type are still used and some users fall for them. Never trust emails such as "THIS IS NOT A JOKE" - none of the statements are correct.

Threat Summary:

Name	THIS IS NOT A JOKE Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Symptoms	Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of one's computer.
Distribution methods	Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains.
Damage	Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Other scams similar to "THIS IS NOT A JOKE" include "I Know * Is One Of Your Pass", "Yоu May Not Know Mе", and "Wе Arе Nоt Going To Steal A Lot Of Time". All are used to extort money from people by threatening to leak a compromising video or photo, unless ransom payments are transferred.

Note, however, that not all spam campaigns are used to extort money (at least not directly) - some emails trick people into installing computer infections. Cyber criminals achieve this by sending emails that contain malicious attachments such as Microsoft Office or PDF documents, archive files (ZIP, RAR, and other files), executables (.exe), and so on.

Scammers attach the files to infect computers with high-risk computer infections such as LokiBot, TrickBot, Emotet, AZORult, Adwind, and so on. These infections are invoked by tricking people into opening the presented attachments. When installed, these malicious apps steal personal details such as logins, passwords, banking details, etc.

They usually cause problems relating to privacy, browsing safety, financial loss, or they infect computers with programs such as ransomware.

We receive a great deal of feedback from concerned users about this scam email. Here is the most popular question we receive:

Q: Hi pcrisk.com team, I received an email stating that my computer was hacked and they have a video of me. Now they are asking for a ransom in Bitcoins. I think this must be true because they listed my real name and password in the email. What should I do?

A: Do not worry about this email. Neither hackers nor cyber criminals have infiltrated/hacked your computer and there is no video of you watching pornography. Simply ignore the message and do not send any Bitcoins. Your email, name, and password was probably stolen from a compromised website such as  Yahoo (these website breaches are common). If you are concerned, you can check if your accounts have been compromised by visiting the haveibeenpwned website.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns infect computers through malicious attachments, which can only do damage to the computer/operating system if the attachment (or website link) is opened. For example, if the attachment is a MS Office document (Word, Excel, or other), once downloaded and opened, it will demand permission to enable macro commands.

If enabled, the malicious document will have permission to download and install a computer infection. In other cases, if the attachment is an archive file, its contents must first be extracted and an executable file executed, etc. No matter what the file type, spam emails cannot do any harm if the file remains unopened.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Before downloading and opening any attachment (or link), study it first. If the attached file (or entire email) seem irrelevant or has been received from a suspicious, unknown email address, it is better to leave it unopened and to simply ignore it. Do not use third party software downloaders, installers, and other similar sources to download or install software.

These tools are often monetized by distributing rogue apps. Install and download software carefully: check available "Custom", "Advanced" settings of any download/installation set-up, deselect offers to install unwanted software, and only then finish the download or installation process.

Update installed software using implemented functions or tools provided by official software developers. Using other (unofficial) updaters might cause installation of malicious programs, rather than the updates or other improvements. Use Microsoft Office versions from 2010 or later.

These include "Protected View" mode that prevents untrustworthy attachments from downloading and installing computer infections. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "THIS IS NOT A JOKE" email message:

Subject: Hi perv. I recorded you masturbating! I have captured '******.mp4'!

ATTN: ***********

THIS IS NOT A JOKE - I AM DEAD SERIOUS!

Hi perv,

The last time you visited a p0rnographic website with teens,
you downloaded and installed software I developed.

My program has turned on your camera and recorded
the process of your masturbation.

My software has also downloaded all your email contact lists
and a list of your friends on Facebook.

I have both the 'Support.mp4' with your masturbation
as well as a file with all your contacts on my hard drive.

You are very perverted!

If you want me to delete both the files and keep the secret,
you must send me Bitcoin payment. I give you 72 hours for payment.

If you don't know how to send Bitcoins, visit Google.

Send 2.000 USD to this Bitcoin address immediately:

38mopXuQ2t9gcXWJpVwwZSa484pZyzDJQd
(copy and paste)

1 BTC = 3,580 USD right now, so send exactly 0.564502 BTC
to the address provided above.

Do not try to cheat me!
As soon as you open this Email I will know you opened it.

This Bitcoin address is linked to you only,
so I will know if you sent the correct amount.
When you pay in full, I will remove the files and deactivate my program.

If you don't send the payment, I will send your masturbation video
to ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES from your contact list I hacked.

Here are the payment details again:

Send 0.564502 BTC to this Bitcoin address:

----------------------------------------
38mopXuQ2t9gcXWJpVwwZSa484pZyzDJQd, 177Xyh9wCRZgdzogHVb8QfxYChuAE9kpoj
----------------------------------------

You ??n visit police but nobody will help you. I know what I am doing.
I don't live in your country and I know how to stay anonymous.

Don't try to deceive me - I will know it immediately - my spy ware is
recording all the websites you visit and all keys you press.
If you do - I will send this ugly recording to everyone you know,
including your family.

Don't cheat me! Don't forget the shame and if you ignore this message your
life will be ruined.

I am waiting for your Bitcoin payment.

If you need more time to buy and send 0.564502 BTC,
open your notepad and write '48h plz'.
I will consider giving you another 48 hours before I release the vid.

Anonymous Hacker

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Quick menu:

• What is THIS IS NOT A JOKE spam?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

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