Do not trust the I know that you visit 18+ content scam

What is I know that you visit 18+ content email scam?

Typically, scammers behind these emails claim to have hacked a computer (or other device) and recorded intimate video of recipients while they were visiting adult websites.

The main purpose of the messages is to trick recipients into believing that the supposedly recorded video will be sent to all of their contacts (and/or published on a specific web page) unless they pay a specified sum (typically, in a cryptocurrency).

In this way, scammers behind these emails attempt to scare recipients into making ransom payments.

There are at least two variants of emails used in this sextortion campaign, one claiming that the computer has been hacked, and another claiming that a smartphone has been hacked.

Despite this, the two variants are similar: they claim that scammers have obtained intimate recordings of recipients and have extracted their contact list from email, telephonebook, and social media accounts.

The main purpose of this scam campaign is to trick recipients into believing that the recorded video will be sent to all contacts and scare them into paying scammers USD$500 equivalent in Bitcoins to the provided BTC wallet.

These emails should be ignored, deleted, and marked as spam so that email filters remove them.

Threat Summary:

Name	I know that you visit 18+ content email scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Computer/smartphone has been hacked and intimate video has been obtained
Ransom Amount	$500 in Bitcoins
Cyber Criminal Cryptowallet Address	1GfdASr4zrJbEdDBqPNC3W4yM7cUab3jd3
Symptoms	Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of the 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.

More examples of similar email scams that scammers use to trick recipients into paying ransoms are "You've Been Hacked! Email Scam", "I Infected Your Computer With My Private Trojan Email Scam", and "I Know A Lot More Things About You Email Scam".

Note that as well as being used to deceive people into making money transactions, these emails are also used to persuade people into installing malware (e.g., ransomware, Trojan-type malware, cryptocurrency miners).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Typically, cyber criminals behind malspam campaigns send emails with a file attached to them or a download link to the malicious file. Their main goal is to trick recipients into opening/executing the rogue file, which then installs malicious software.

Some examples of files that cyber criminals send via email are Microsoft Office and PDF documents, executables (.exe), JavaScript, and archives (ZIP, RAR).

Note that malicious documents that are opened with Microsoft Office 2010 or newer versions install malicious software only if users enable macros commands (enable editing/content). These versions include "Protected View" mode, which does not allow opened malicious documents to install malware automatically. Older versions do not include this feature and install malicious software without asking permission.

How to avoid installation of malware

Download software and files from official websites and via direct links. It is not safe to use torrent clients, eMule (or other Peer-to-Peer networks), third party downloaders, unofficial websites or other sources of this kind.

Avoid third party installers. Check "Advanced", "Custom" and other settings, and decline offers to download or install unwanted software. Do not click ads that are displayed on dubious websites, since they can open other untrusted websites or even cause unwanted downloads and installations.

Remove any unwanted, suspicious applications (extensions, add-ons, and plug-ins) that are installed on the browser. The same should be applied to programs of this kind that are installed on the operating system.

Regularly scan your computer with reputable antivirus or anti-spyware software and keep this software up to date.

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 email:

Subject: I have you

Hi!

So, I know that you visit 18+ content!

Your smartphone got infected so I was able to record with your camera and the microphone without your knowledge while you satisfy yourself! Here is the deal... you have to pay me 500$ equivalent value in Bit-C0in the video with you(doing you know what) will be sent to your contacts.

My malicious application that was installed also had another function, to extract all your contacts from phonebook, social media contacts, emails. How about the passwords? Neah, any smart-phone have like a virus detection tool build-in and they scan for what kind of activity an app can have, so... Trying to extract passwords? Very bad, it may get detected! Using the camera and extracting all the contacts without user permission? No problem!

Ok! So.. to get some coins go and search on Google for "Buy Bit-C0in instantly" and send the coins to the next address:

Address: 1 G f d A S r 4 z r J b E d D B q P N C 3 W 4 y M 7 c U a b 3 j d 3

Amount: 0.012

Important! My address which is Case Sensitive has spaces and you must to eliminate all the spaces and the result it has to be a string of 34 characters so it will start with "1" and will end with "3". Use the string without spaces to send my coins! You have a few days!

Anway, to get rid of my backdoor sneaky application reset your device to factory settings. Use Google for "Reset to factory settings [your phone model]". In case you suspect that I compromised your passwords, you can change them! To avoid getting infected next time, your browser and your OS must to be updated regularry!

Also, you may took in consideration to quit looking to this type of videos.. it makes a mess in your brain.

When the payment is made if you still get those messages you can ignore them. My compromised machines are programmed to send this message multiple times.

Screenshot of the another email scam variant:

Text in this variant:

Subject: I recorded you

Hello!

I know the fact that you visit regularly PRONOGRAPHIC movies!

The smart phone that you own got hacked and allowed me to control your microphone and your camera and record you in slient mode, without you knowing in the same time you masturbate! The deal is next.. if you don`t send me 500$ worth of Bit-C0in I will send the video with you doing(you know what) to the list of your contacts.

My sneaky app that was installed had also a second function, to steal all your contacts from social media, phonebook list, emails and so. Do I have passwords as well? Nope, any smartphone has a security check and they scan for what kind of activity an app can have, so extracting passwords? Bad, that can be detected! Extracting contacts and using camera in background? Normal activity!

Ok! So.. to get some coins you can Google for "Buy Bit-C0in instantly" and send the coins to the next address:

Address: 1 G f d A S r 4 z r J b E d D B q P N C 3 W 4 y M 7 c U a b 3 j d 3

Amount: 0.012

Important! The Address which is CASE SENSITIVE was split with spaces, and you must to eliminate all the spaces and the result must to be a string of 34 characters long also it will start with "1" and will end with "3". Use the string without spaces to send my coins! You have a few days!

So, to remove my sneaky hidden app apply a reset with factory settings. Go on Google and search for "Reset Factory Settings [your model phone]". Maybe you think that I have your passwords as well, go ahead change them too! You can do a few things to not getting infected in the future, your browser and your OS must to be updated regularry!

Also maybe you will consider to stop with this habbit of watching videos like this... is messing with your brain.

Once the coins are sent maybe you will receive those emails just ignore them. My compromised machines are programmed to send this message multiple times.

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Quick menu:

• What is I Know That You Visit 18+ Content 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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