Hey. It's Me! Your Future Friend Or Enemy Email Scam

What is "Hey. It's me! Your future friend or enemy"?

Cyber criminals proliferate the "Hey. It's me! Your future friend or enemy" scam through email messages. They send emails to many random people hoping that some will take the message seriously.

The main purpose of this scam is to trick the recipient of the email into sending money to the scammers, otherwise the scammers threaten to proliferate a 'personal' video that they have supposedly recorded using a program that they stealthily installed on the user's computer. We recommend that you ignore this email, since all claims are false.

The scammer responsible for this email presents himself as a 'hacker' who specializes in hacking devices (supposedly mobile telephones) and stealing data stored on them. In this particular case, he claims that he has installed a program that is capable of recording videos and typed text.

Furthermore, he states that he recorded a video whilst the recipient was visiting a pornography website. This was apparently achieved using a 'simultaneous connection' to the telephone's camera whilst recording a video using split screen mode. This supposed video displays the pornography website on one side and the recipient watching it on the other.

Furthermore, it is stated that a backup copy of the data stored on a telephone was made and details such as browsing history, contacts, etc. were stolen. The scammer states that ignoring him or contacting the police (or other authorities) will result in the video being leaked.

To avoid it being shared with all contacts and proliferated over the internet, a ransom demand of $1000 in Bitcoins is made. A Bitcoin wallet address is provided for transfer of the cryptocurrency. Furthermore, payment must be made within 48 hours. According to this scammer, he will delete the video and all other stolen data once payment is made.

As mentioned, this is a scam and should not be trusted. Unfortunately, some people are not aware of these scams and pay the scammers for videos or other material that does not exist.

Threat Summary:

Name	Hey. It's Me! Your Future Friend Or Enemy 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.

"Hey. It's me! Your future friend or enemy" is just one of many spam campaigns used by scammers who attempt to extort money from people. There are many scams that attempt to make money from recipients by issuing various threats. Scammers attempt to blackmail people by claiming that they have recorded a compromising video.

Examples or other similar spam campaigns include "I Have A Forum In The Darkweb", "Your Account Was Hacked", and "You May Not Know Me". Other spam campaigns are used by cyber criminals to infect people's computers with malicious programs such as LokiBot, TrickBot, Emotet, AZORult, Adwind, and other infections.

The main difference is that these emails contain attachments such as Microsoft Office documents, PDF, executable (.exe), JavaScript, and other files. These attachments install malware (high-risk computer infections) when they are opened.

Scammers behind these emails attempt to trick people into opening the attachments (or web links that lead to them) by presenting them as important files (invoices, banking documents, and so on). The programs that cyber criminals proliferate through these spam campaigns usually steal personal data that can be used to generate revenue.

Having these programs installed risks computer infection, financial loss, browsing safety/privacy issues, and other problems.

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 haveibeenpwned website.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails sent with the purpose to infect computers with malicious programs can be used successfully only if the presented attachments are opened. Therefore, the included attachments cannot do any damage (download and install malicious programs) if they are left unopened.

For instance, if the file presented in an email of this type is a Microsoft Office document, once opened, it will first ask to enable macros commands. Once they are enabled, the malicious document gains permission to download and install a computer infection.

If the attached file is an archive file such as ZIP, RAR or other, it must be extracted and its contents executed (launched), and so on.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Do not open attachments that are included in emails received from unknown, untrustworthy or suspicious email addresses. It is straightforward to identify these emails - usually they are irrelevant and presented as important, or they are presented as offers to participate in lotteries, surveys, and so on.

Avoid downloading software using Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule) and other third party downloaders, unofficial websites, and so on. The most secure way to download software is using official websites and direct links. Software should be updated using tools or implemented functions that are provided by official software developers only.

We strongly recommend that you avoid using any other tools (such as third party, fake software updaters) to achieve this. Have a reputable anti-virus or anti-spyware software installed. The internet these days is a risky place, and these tools are a good prevention when dealing with computer infections.

They often detect and remove threats before they can cause any damage to the operating system. 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 "Hey. It's me! Your future friend or enemy" email message:

Subject: This account has been hacked! Change your password right now!

 

####*$$$
Hey. It's me! Your future friend or enemy.
You do not know me and think why I received this letter.

 

I hack phones and save information from them.
I installed you a program with the functions of saving video and saving typing.

 

When you visited the sites that interest me. (Sites containing porn.)
My program recorded video from your screen with simultaneous connection to your camera.
Saying thanks to the phone manufacturers. This mode - Split Screen.

 

Also, I saved a full backup of your phone, which contains all your files.
History of correspondence, browser history and all telephone contacts during the hacking.
Saying thanks to the phone manufacturers. This mode - backup.

 

You think what I should do. And, of course, you are furious.
You have to make a choice.
And remember. You make choice, what will happen next in your life.

 

1. You can delete and ignore this email. When I return, I will see that the letter is being viewed.
In this case, I will be able to share this personal record with your contacts.

 

To track the reading of a message and the actions in it, I use the facebook pixel.
Thanks to them. (Everything that is used for the authorities can help us.)
More you can find out by the link.
https://www.facebook.com/business/help/*******************

 

2. You can write or call to the police, and shout nervous. Catch the hacker. Save my life.
They will investigate the hacked ip and hacked mail.
In order to find me and protect you. I think time is too small for this, 48 hours before sending the files.
In this case, I will be able to share this personal record with your contacts.
The police will not save you from the ridicule of friends, colleagues and family. You want live with this?
In my practice, there were cases when people had to change the whole way of life and place of residence.
They wanted to pay, but it was too late. It's time, and the files have been sent.

 

Everything that is downloaded on the Internet there and will remain forever.
More information you can find on request in Google
"Beyonce wants this photo removed"

 

3. I want to get paid for the work done. We all want our work to be paid.
(Even if it was not a wanted job.)
I want 1000 USD. In Bitcoin
My wallet BTC Address:

 

16e6KPCPGy5RNAmsBFKKChe91PcjgLDN6o

 

(CASE sensitive, copy and paste it carefully)

If you have any questions, you can write me. Email will be available for short-term support.

For payment after opening the letter 48 hours.

 

Pay me and you make new choice.

4. Receiving video only personally.
5. Delete all the data.

 

Time has begun.

 

#####***

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Quick menu:

• What is Hey. It's Me! Your Future Friend Or Enemy 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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