'I am a hacker, and I have access to your operating system' Email Scam

Online con artists experiment with new ways to trick regular user regularly, and one of the latest trends in their campaigns are the so-called sextortion tactics. The fraudsters tell their victims that they have obtained a pornographic video or image of them and threaten to send it to their family, friends, and co-workers unless they agree to pay a ransom fee. One of the latest variants of this fraudulent scheme is referred to as the 'I am a hacker, and I have access to your operating system' email scam – the email message has been sent to thousands of users worldwide, and it is safe to assume that thousands of others will also receive it in the near future.

PC users that their computers have been infected by video-recording malware that caught footage of them while they were browsing an adult video site. The criminals then threaten to send the video to the victims' friends and co-workers unless they agree to pay $1,000 via Bitcoin. The 'I am a hacker, and I have access to your operating system' email scam also includes instructions on how to purchase Bitcoin, as well as on how to complete the transaction.

The Bitcoin address included in the tactic has already received one transaction worth $1,000, and this is likely to motivate the fraudsters to continue propagating the fraudulent email messages.

If you receive any sort of extortion email, you can rest assured that it is most likely fake. You should ignore such messages and report their sender for fraudulent activity.