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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Cyber spam attack. Please help. Desperate

52 replies

CreakingKnees · 13/06/2019 06:23

Help.
I opened my email and there was an email which basically said that I had viewed porn and was watched mastrubating to it.
I can honestly say that I have NOT viewed porn or mastrubated to anything. I can also say with confidence that no one else has used any of my devices.
The email contained my Hotmail password!!!
It goes on to say that if I don't pay a certain amount of bitcoin then footage of me doing so will be distributed around family and friends etc.
I tried to change my password but I made a hash of it and now Hotmail are saying that I can't attempt to change it for 30 days
I'm panicking because this person obviously knows my password.
I have emails that contain receipts with my name and address etc on them from such as ocado.
I'm desperate to change my password obviously and now I'm in a real panic.
Can anyone tell me what I can do now, and has anyone else had one of these emails?
Around 6 years ago I was hit by a virus which said I had to pay £100 to get my laptop unlocked, fortunately I managed to sort it ( the police were aware of this scam and gave steps on how to clear it on their website ) but it wrecked my laptop which had to be destroyed.
Help please.
Seriously, no porn has been accessed.
I don't know what to do.

OP posts:

Original poster

CreakingKnees · 13/06/2019 07:12

I've just demanded that the dog tells me if he's been on any doggie porn sites. Such as dogging R us.
He just looked at me and stared at his empty bowl.
Even the dog isn't guilt.
Thank you everyone for your advice and reassurance. I feel a bit better now. X

OP posts:

msmith501 · 13/06/2019 07:16

Meant to add (for anyone in a similar position) that there was probably no need for the OPs laptop to have been destroyed 6 years ago following a ransomeware attack. Even as a last resort, it's straightforward enough for an IT-type person or anyone with a bit of confidence to pop the Windows CD into the CD tray, choose to boot the laptop from the CD (press F8 whilst booting up) and following the instructions to reload Windows BUT choose the option to save your apps and documents. Hope this helps

TitchyP · 13/06/2019 07:23

I get all sorts of rubbish like these every few days and just delete, I don't give it a second thought. Don't worry.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 13/06/2019 07:26

Just delete it and take no notice.
However even if you have googled Adult porn and masterbated to it. Its not illegal.

BunnyJumps · 13/06/2019 07:30

I got this, ignored it. Got another one a month later, ignored it.
I went on my colleague's computer and saw that he had the same one.

Don't worry - just don't respond. Unfortunately, some poor person will.

ethelredonagoodday · 13/06/2019 07:32

It's a scam. My husband and colleagues had the same at work. They referred to the police. Don't worry OP.

Original poster

CreakingKnees · 13/06/2019 08:12

I don't understand why people do it.
They need to be fed feet first into a woodchipper.
I will take some time out today and change all my passwords on everything.
Fortunately i don't tend to have much social media and that type of thing so it shouldn't take me too long i think.

Says me who couldn't even do a simple password change without blowing it up

OP posts:

sparkleandsunshine · 13/06/2019 11:40

I had that exact email, except without my email password, it just said they had my email password and that’s how they had sent me and email from my account, they said they had footage of me watching porn and that if I didn’t pay the bitcoin by the end of the week they would email the footage to everyone in my friends list!
😂 I just changed my password and forgot about it, I hadn’t been watching porn so knew it was a fake, never heard anything else about it. That was a couple of months ago now.

Nesssie · 13/06/2019 11:48

Got 3 emails saying the same, apparently I made a great video

If it worked for Kim Kardashian.. fingers crossed

EnchentButteler · 13/06/2019 11:51

DH and I had this the other day with our password (joint email) so we changed the password and deleted the email.

NannyRed · 13/06/2019 12:10

Its spam. They are after money from those gullible enough to think they have been filmed watching porn and wanking. Delete the email and forget about it!

Pokul · 13/06/2019 12:12

As everyone has said it's spam, going forward use a password manager such as last pass to help you keep unique long individual passwords for each account and put two factor authentication on email accounts. support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4028586/microsoft-account-turning-two-step-verification-on-or-off

Confusedbeetle · 13/06/2019 12:16

Dont panic, it will all get sorted. I would strongly advise you to use a password manager like LastPass. Its the only way to keep passwords safe. This scam is ludicrous and very common. I do agree that gmail gets less rubbish than msn hotmail and yahoo. Personally I would just close that account

mintich · 13/06/2019 12:17

Oh I get that email all the time!! Ignore, delete!

Illberidingshotgun · 13/06/2019 12:24

You could report it here:

www.actionfraud.police.uk/scam-emails

This is a really common one that always seems to be doing the rounds. Just report, delete, sort passwords and forget about it. TBH though, even if you have been masturbating to porn every day, you've done nothing wrong! (Not at all implying that you have) Covertly filming someone, not that they have, would be a crime though.

dontgobaconmyheart · 13/06/2019 12:25

OP, it's just a scam, and a fairly well known one. I've had at least two of these. They don't 'know' your password, they have one that is associated with your hotmail address/some sort of online account that will have been hacked in the past and the data sold on. 'They' have no idea who you are, they send thousands of these and are probably a bit (automatic electronic data programmer) rather than a real person. If anything all it means is that you don't regularly change your passwords, which you really should make habit of. I doubt there are any of us on here that have not been subject to a data leak from on online account at some point.

Keep a cool head, remember that the email is a loss of tosh bit the password security isn't- change your passwords. Dont use the same one for different online accounts. Change regularly.

There are websites you can use (such as haveibeenpwned) that allow you to check which specific data leaks your email was compromised in but if you just change everything there isn't much more you can do.

Dont open spam emails, report them, delete them, never reply. It'll be fine OP, just as sad part of modern life that everyone gets.

ElfridaEtAl · 13/06/2019 12:27

My partner got the same email, I can't remember it saying anything about a password though. We just deleted and ignored.

Vilanelle · 13/06/2019 12:29

I had one of these on my work emails, not bothered.

Well known scam, was on the news a few months back.

WoollyMollyMonkey · 13/06/2019 12:38

I’ve had that email too and I can honestly say the same as you, I have never watched anything like that. If you copy and paste some of the text into google it will find a site that tells you it is just a phishing scam so no need to panic. Your password (like mine) must have been on one of those data breeches years ago. If you hadn’t changed your password then, change it now. (I must have changed mine previously as it wasn’t the same as the one they were quoting, although I had used it on other things - naughty I know). Don’t panic and don’t send them any money. I had that email a few months ago and deleted it and nothing’s happened to my accounts.

Fluffycloudland77 · 13/06/2019 12:48

I get that one all the time. I also get the one from semi naked young women assuring me they want my cum on their tits.

I’m a woman so that one would be difficult.

Bunnybaubles · 13/06/2019 12:56

I've had a few of them, saying the same about watching porn etc etc. The password they say they have isn't one I've ever used.
Plus they said if I didn't pay within 48 hrs they would lock my device. Deleted and 3 months on my devices are fine!

Impatienceismyvirtue · 13/06/2019 13:49

I got the exact same email. A very cursory google told me it was spam, even though they had identified my current password, and it also detailed how they’d done it. Delete the email, change your passwords, don’t think any more about it.

Original poster

CreakingKnees · 13/06/2019 14:07

Thank you everyone for your advice.
I have spent a bit of time this morning changing my password on various sites and reported it to the action fraud which a poster suggested.
I've also apologised to the dog and taken him for an extra long walk.
Thanks everyone

OP posts:

Blobby10 · 13/06/2019 14:23

I've had this on both my work and home email. My boss had it too. The information must have been from many years ago as the passwords the scammers claimed to have were from pre 2010!

Just keep blocking the sender - they may try from several different accounts but dont worry about it.

amysaurus87 · 13/06/2019 17:16

It's a scam. I've had the same email and I ignored it....nothing happened.

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