The Blackmail Scam is also known as the Webcam Scam and the Sextortion Scam. If you get this thing in your inbox or spam folder, just ignore it or delete it. Here are the details:
The blackmail consists of someone claiming they took control of your webcam without you knowing, and they’ve captured video of you doing something embarrassing. If you pay up, they promise not to send the video to anyone else. Please know that they did not access your camera or capture any video, the email is 100% fiction.
To some, their email is very convincing and worrisome. They do use a lot of jargon, and to the layperson it can make the scammer come across as capable and in control. But they aren’t. They’re just spammers, and they sent this message to millions of people at one go. You may dismiss this message with extreme prejudice.
Once in a while, this blackmail scam resurfaces, and the cybercriminal includes “your password.” And the email will truly include a password familiar to you, from some website you’ve used in the past! If this happens to you, you should still not believe in the message. The scammers have simply obtained some data leak from a website you once logged into, and they’ve included your password for verisimilitude. After you delete the email, think about that password, and make sure to change it on any website where you may have used it.
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