The Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC), Office of the eSafety Commissioner and National Anti-Scam Centre - Scamwatch have received over 300 reports this week.
This scam email may appear to originate from an individual’s own email address and threatens to release personal and sensitive information unless the scammer is paid money. The email may also claim to have compromised a computer, router or other electronic device and it can include a password which the recipient has used in the past.
Sextortion is a form of online blackmail where a perpetrator threatens to reveal intimate images of someone online, often to their friends and family, unless they pay a ransom (commonly in untraceable cryptocurrency). Typically, the scammers have no compromising information.
While the ASD’s ACSC has not received any reports of financial loss, the centre would like to remind Australians to not make payments and cease all contact with the scammers.