DS being blackmailed by an email saying videos/pics on his phone will be sent to his contacts unless he pays into a bitcoin account

[ArentYouInBedYet]

Any advice please?

@pleasehelpwi3 yes he is a good lad. I am a big prude lol, so he knows what I think of porn but we have very open communication and I really try to show DCs they can tell me anything and I will help them and listen.

From what he said it was more embarrassing pics he has as he has been taking pix of his UPPER body (phew) changing as he has been to the gym over the last year. I have drummed it into my sons never to take dick pix (poor lads, hearing their old mum using that expression 😂) so I am pretty sure he was 100% honest about that. But who knows - it is called a "private life" for a reason!

There was also an iffy film website he had downloaded, so has deleted that one. And finally sees why I told him ages ago to download Norton onto his phone to see if sites are safe or not

@Chanhedforthis yes! very similar to that one

I get a message like this once every 3 months. Claiming to have video of me masturbating at my computer. Happily for me, I haven’t ever accessed porn on my computer, etc. I block and delete.

If it's from his email to his email, they have presumably hacked into his email and can see messages and photos he's emailed? Has he changed his passwords?

There is a black mirror episode about this exact scam

There was also an iffy film website he had downloaded, so has deleted that one

hello, I'm not just piling on, but please teach him to NEVER do that – importantly, for safety reasons and not moral reasons. it's fine to watch movies or porn on streaming sites (I think you'll have to tell him this, as he's obviously a regular/advanced watcher, to have downloaded something), but please don't ever download something dodgy INTO your phone. that's just asking for it with all your accounts, privacy, phone, etc and you may not even be aware of what's going on

I had this and yes it did worry me and not because I am guilty and have dirty pics on my phone 🙄🤦‍♀️ but because they were extremely persistent, was sending me emails on my own email address and even had my address! Only thing was it was my old address but still I found it very creepy

I get these quite a lot. I ignore them and nobody has ever been sent any of the salacious footage they claim to have. However, if he's a child, definitely report to Action Fraud.

I think OP meant regular old movies, not porn, like PirateBay.

A few posters are acting like the poor lad's addicted to porn just because he panicked and it's likely not the case.

The messages are designed to make you panic. Like I and a few other posters have said, we had momentary panic when we first encountered the scam and we don't watch porn. The one I had mentioned my "laptop" and film they'd taken of me on my laptop not a phone. It was an earlier version of the scam when smartphones weren't as advanced as they are now and laptops and tablets were more popuar.

I didn't have a laptop, I had a desktop that had no webcam and I had never watched porn on it or even 18 plus movies because it was in the family room but I still have a minute of fear when I read the email because it included personal details like passwords.

I'm sure he does watch some porn like pretty much every other teenager but having a minor panic over a scam email doesn't mean he is an "advanced user" of porn or has a phone full of dick pics and sex abuse images.

I hope he and you have been reassure and feel ok - these nasty scammer don't care how much they lie and upset or frighten people in the hope of 1 or 2 per hundred thousand sending them money

nothing wrong helping people. What is wrong with you?

This scam is totally unrelated to anything he may have done, OP - the scammers are just counting on a fearful reaction. They can make the email look like it comes from his account, without actually accessing his account. So let him know to block, junk and ignore.

Many teenagers are probably advanced users of porn – you're the one in a moral panic! Either way, the days of Piratebay are at least a decade over. There's no need to ever download dodgy videos these days. That's the dumbest ever thing you can do, safety wise.

I think OP meant regular old movies, not porn, like PirateBay.

What he's downloading film-wise is largely irrelevant really - but nobody should be downloading any dodgy apps to their phones or laptops ever.

My 92 year old, not very computer savvy, neighbour had one. She only really uses email and occasionally messenger. It is just a scam. Horrible to think that it frightens people. The scammers send out thousands every day.
No doubt the poster above who is incandescent with rage that a mother is helping a nineteen year old son will also be desperate to point out that a 92 year old is also an adult.

Exactly, this well known scam has been doing the rounds for years. I've had it a few times, it usually goes straight in to my junk folder which I occasionally check and this is why I've seen it. I think once it went in to my inbox.
Even my 60 year old SIL has had the email.
I've always just ignored it and no thing's happened. Google it and you'll find many references to it.

It’s a very very common scam OP. Ignore, delete and move on. Don’t let it worry him or you.

I get these about once a month. I just delete and move on. It's very very well known and happens to most of us

I get this type of message frequently. I'm not a watcher of porn. It's just untargeted spam