How Bitcoin Scammers Target Men and Use Their Secrets Against Them

Did you and your ex break up? Or have you been watching objectionable content and had secrets that nobody should ever know? You could probably be afraid that someone may use your dark side as a threat against you. Not even a hard soul can withstand the fear of having their private photos shared on social media or maybe shown to parents. The feeling is devastating. It can make you do anything just to get rid of the blackmail. In matters relating to finances, checking the Loan Advisor blog post about bitcoin will help. But what if it is challenging to afford one? Let's talk about how bitcoin scammers find out your secrets and use them against you.

Cyber blackmail

An observation in cyber extortion has been made whereby we had an almost 80% increase in blackmail cases in mid-2018. Potential targets are receiving emails from scammers using passwords and usernames one had in the past before changing. You may find an email alerting you about secrets you've kept from your wife or incriminating videos that they threaten to share with your friends and relatives. They'll mostly demand payment in bitcoins and even indicate their code and instructions for making the payment if you don't know how it's done. Suppose you fail to comply with the demand, they threaten negative consequences that will scare you to death. 

Working of the deal

Have you ever received an email saying that someone has captured your videos showing your direct behavior involvement? The extortion scammer claims to have gotten the footage from malicious malware downloaded using their computer. They then threaten that you pay what's asked within a day or two, failure to which the content will be exposed to your contacts and social media. Well, from experience, most of such threats are merely nothing exceeding bluff. Bodies dealing with victims of this kind of blackmail have confirmed severally that the blackmail is never severe as claimed.

Clients have contacted them concerning the fears of getting their confidential information exposed. Still, no one about the scammer making follows up, mostly if you ignore. We're not saying that it never happens. The probability of them going ahead is minimal.

Please put in mind that what mainly motivates the scammer is money. Without financial gain, nothing else will be achieved by exposing the illicit material as threatened. Why would you release the funds to someone wanting to earn through fear and intimidation exposure?

Moreover, in case they notice you are a soft target, they'll likely keep coming back with more threats to keep gaining from you. A scammer who succeeds in the first attempt keeps making trials until the day it clicks to them. They exhausted all your ability to separate from your money. For this reason, it'd be useful if you cut every contact and ties or links through which such cons can reach you. Now that you know how the scammers work, it's time to invest, seek help from Loan Advisor and get the best loan deals.

Blackmail scams are commonly reported

• Illicit actions

A scammer comes in the name of wanting an online relationship. After a few days or hours of keeping touch and trust is built, you may be trapped to record an illicit act and send them. The sent video will be used to threaten you.

• Assignment extortion

Here, a scammer will develop a website dealing with college or university academic writing and assignments at a fee. After making payment, they'll send an email saying you'll be exposed to your institution if you don't give an extra amount.

• Webcam hack

A target is told about the scammer having access to their webcam and have captured all compromising videos for a certain period. The threats may be obvious things, for instance, doing things at home half-dressed. Sometimes it could be a pornographic site you visited.

Compromised/hacked accounts

You'll be informed about your small bits of personal information, such as passwords and usernames linked to a hacked website. The email they send will convince you that their system has been compromised.

• How bitcoin scammers get your details

Unsecure websites or phishing emails can allow unintentional downloads of usernames and passwords by scammers using malicious software. A phishing email may also redirect you to log in to a website that mirrors your credentials, thus exposing the personal information.

Breached data cases are so many. Hence there's a high chance that the new blackmail email was at first gotten from a familiar breach. Any information collected is traded with various scammers across the planet.

Once a scammer receives your details, each of them uses different agendas. Some will only be interested in using your account to reach contacts and scamming them, pretending it's you. Others will email you asking for access to your other online stores.

How to avoid getting into blackmail

• Regularly change your passwords.
• Periodically run an anti-virus application or software and install any available software updates.
• Create very unique passwords to any online service you're using.
• Cover your webcam on computers and all other devices after use.
• You can also check your email to ensure the account hasn't been hacked by a known breach.

Additional information

You can do the following to help the scammer proceed with their threats. For example;

• Make the threat neutral; suppose they threaten to inform your parents about your secrets or anything wrong you did, you can find a way of being honest with the parents first. It may be uncomfortable, but say what happened because you may not have more powers to control the threat.
• Get a support system; find one who'll help you feel firm and supported at such a time when you can't feed your fears. A counselor, friend, or parent could help calm you down. Please share the problem with them.
• Call the police and inform them about the incident giving any information that might be needed to get help.

The bottom line

Scammers using blackmail to get money via threats are simply cowards. Please don't allow yourself to fall for their traps from the word go. Block them or cut any links so they won't reach you with the intimidations. Society should also take the lead in supporting a victim involved in such extortion. It shouldn't condemn nudes, especially ones exposed through cyber-terrorism actions. As a victim, you might be sure to panic, but it's good advice to take immediate action and restore your peace. Otherwise, watch out for the means of avoiding blackmail, as discussed earlier.

(Disclaimer: Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)