Just received a Hacking Threat by email

[Klystron]

Howdy, double-double-you-gee-dee. This reads as a scam. I recently cleaned an old but still intact hotmail account that I haven't used in years and have failed to monitor often. Found many such email scams many centered around my Amazon account still retaining the old hotmail address. The scam emails almost exactly match the purportedly legitimate Amazon notices.

I reported the most egregious fakes to Amazon and next day received a call from "Amazon tech support" on my cell. The caller was very slick and professional, obviously native Mandarin speaker from his accent. Mr. Lee explained how vulnerable I am to dox and phishing attacks, explaining how he never asks for specific bank account info. etc., but offering to contact all banks associated with my Amazon account payments.

Red lights finally lit, I noticed his call was from a blocked private number. I managed a few insults while wasting time. Then I called Amazon customer support, a very nice lady with a Mumbai accent found no problems or false orders on my account. These scams mainly involved "confirmation emails" for large items I did not order.

Mr. Lee was very good at what Steve Wozniak called "social engineering" when he was stealing phone time BITD. Expecting contact from Amazon, I almost fell for this slickster who seems to specialize robbing elderly users, gathering data shared by a large team of thieves.

What a shamble these cretins have made of the Internet and, now, online commerce. I agree the English errors and other mistakes in your posts reek of Eastern Europe / Russian speakers.

 

[PeroK]

There's a nasty trick that they try in the UK. They phone you up, and simultaneously request a security code to get sent to your cellphone. When the code pops up on your phone, you might think it proves they are legitimate. But, of course, you should only ever get such a code if you yourself have requested it and it's for you to use directly to authenticate yourself. The text gives a warning to this effect. The scammers try to get the code from you - which would allow them to authenticate themselves as you.

What can be done?

 

[Borg]

This works for email, phone and your doorstep - if you didn't initiate contact, don't give them any information. Ever. Frankly, I don't even bother to read the spam that's been described here so I may have been getting this junk and wouldn't know it. I also don't answer unknown phone numbers.

Another scam being done with today's AI algorithms is when people have been phone-cloned using their social media posts. In one recent incident, a woman got a call from her 'daughter' begging for money for kidnappers. The woman was smart enough to text her actual daughter and learned that the call was fake. The caller had used an algorithm to clone her daughter's voice using her social media posts. The only foolproof defense to this is a safe word that the caller won't know but your family members will know. Even so, it can be extremely unsettling to hear 'your' loved one screaming for help.

 

[DaveC426913]

The caller had used an algorithm to clone her daughter's voice using her social media posts. The only foolproof defense to this is a safe word that the caller won't know but your family members will know.

I've seen 'This is you nephew grampa. Send me money' messages but this seems to take it to a new level.
Safe word is a good step to implement. Thanks.

 

[Nik_2213]

Gone quiet now, but I was getting 3~~6 calls a week from 'Microsoft' about problems with my PC...
Well, yes: This was in those months after that BIG Windows update that broke a zoo of stuff.

I'd usually just listen to the semi-plausible spiel, hang up.
But, finding update had broken Notepad's wrap-function (!!!) 'Set off my Irish'.

I totally monologued that unfortunate would-be scammer, did not allow a word in edge-wise.
Five minutes....
Ten minutes...
Fifteen minutes...
"The Other Caller Has Cleared."

IIRC, it was several weeks before the next call. And, as soon as I mentioned 'Notepad Wrap', they rang off !!!

E-mail whatsits have thinned out of late as my ISP is getting better at stomping them.

'Microsoft' calls have just about stopped. The 'Usual Suspects' now mostly remind me to urgently renew my expired Amazon Prime or Sky accounts. As I have neither, I allow myself a polite head-shake...
--
FWIW, Notepad's wrap only broke at a specific page width. Neither 'US Letter' nor 'EU A4', this happened to match the format my post-middle-aged eyes prefer. The Windows forum did not believe me at first, but my evidence convinced. Still, took the better part of six months to patch...

 

[DaveC426913]

I'd usually just listen to the semi-plausible spiel, hang up.

Yeah, rather than hanging up on them, I like to string them along - waste their time and delay them from scamming the next guy.

"Aw shoot. Now I gotta reboot. Hang on." (five minute pause)

 

[Borg]

Back in the 90's, I remember getting a robocall from some machine. I didn't respond to it but I also decided not to hang up. I could hear the machine try to hang up and then pick up the line again. Unfortunately for it, it did not hang up long enough with me still connected. I decided to just lay the phone on the counter to see how long I could tie up their robodialer. After about six hours of tying up their machine, I finally decided to hang up.

 

[WWGD]

OK, hang on.

You seem to be talking about a bona fide attack (and one that must have succeeded if they could actually do any damage). I think those are relatively rare enough that private individuals will generally never see one.

As far as I understand, what WWGD and most of us receive is totally phishing - a complete and utter bluff there is zero teeth behind it.

I've received around 7 more since this one. I'll check whether the bitcoins referenced in each post are all the same. See if it's the same guy/group. I assume they'd be using just one bitcoin.

 

[.Scott]

My wife just got a call from the television service. But in response to his second question my wife noted to him that he had just stopped speaking in English. He hung up.

 

[jack action]

Human ingenuity at its best, the delivery system has now changed:

I received this email in my junk folder. While taking the screenshot, I was hovering over the "View messages" button and you can see the beginning of the link at the bottom: The usual message is now written as a query to Google translate! ("More information" and "Change" links are the same.)

Probably done this way because spam filters caught up to them but, on the upside, if English wasn't the language of your mark, let the Big Guys help you reach them!

 

[WWGD]

Human ingenuity at its best, the delivery system has now changed:

View attachment 332228

I received this email in my junk folder. While taking the screenshot, I was hovering over the "View messages" button and you can see the beginning of the link at the bottom: The usual message is now written as a query to Google translate! ("More information" and "Change" links are the same.)

View attachment 332230​

Probably done this way because spam filters caught up to them but, on the upside, if English wasn't the language of your mark, let the Big Guys help you reach them!

I've received a few more myself, essentially identical to the one in the OP. I haven't bothered to check if the bitcoins referenced in different messages are the same . I assume they'd have just one bitcoin per scammer.

 

[Motore]

I just flagged them once as spam or phishing and Gmail automatically sends all the similar ones now to spam, so I am not bothered anymore. Which email service do you use? I presume all the popular ones already do this automatically.

 

[WWGD]

Hi, got another one, just wanted to report the bitcoin wallet . I'd like to suggest we keep track of them:
The bitcoin wallet here is:
bc1qnpmkx704fcugzuc727axz9dqqnjf904fz2qq8n.
It's different from the one in the previous email.

 

[Tom.G]

Put that BitCoin address into Google search, then, at the end of the main results,
click the link "repeat the search with the omitted results included."

You get things like "Bitcoin Address Lookup"

Have Fun!
Tom

 

[jack action]

Got another one today. It is a much shorter version but still has the same threats, amount, and bitcoin
address.

The unusual thing is this single paragraph:

If you need 44h just Open the calculator and type +,+

Does anyone know what this refers to? It must be some trick related to a Windows calculator, but I'm using Linux so I can't check if it gives an unusual answer or opens an Easter egg of some sort.

 

[WWGD]

Got another one today. It is a much shorter version but still has the same threats, amount, and bitcoin
address.

The unusual thing is this single paragraph:

Does anyone know what this refers to? It must be some trick related to a Windows calculator, but I'm using Linux so I can't check if it gives an unusual answer or opens an Easter egg of some sort.

Would you mind including the bitcoin key? Just curious as to whether it's one guy, a few guys.
I've thought of depositing just $0.01 in their wallets, a few times. Just to insult them and annoy them.

 

[DrJohn]

Got another one today. It is a much shorter version but still has the same threats, amount, and bitcoin
address.

The unusual thing is this single paragraph:

Does anyone know what this refers to? It must be some trick related to a Windows calculator, but I'm using Linux so I can't check if it gives an unusual answer or opens an Easter egg of some sort.

It gives an answer of 0
Which I suspect is supposed to mean no extra time.

 

[jack action]

Would you mind including the bitcoin key? Just curious as to whether it's one guy, a few guys.
I've thought of depositing just $0.01 in their wallets, a few times. Just to insult them and annoy them.

The email has already been deleted.

I have never seen the same Bitcoin address in those emails. This is normal as a Bitcoin address is meant to be used only for one transaction, even though it can technically be reused. Reusing an address might help identify the owner and a smart hacker wouldn't make that mistake. For more info: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Address_reuse

 

[WWGD]

The email has already been deleted.

I have never seen the same Bitcoin address in those emails. This is normal as a Bitcoin address is meant to be used only for one transaction, even though it can technically be reused. Reusing an address might help identify the owner and a smart hacker wouldn't make that mistake. For more info: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Address_reuse

Ok. I doubt any of these attempts are by smart hacerse. They all use almost the same identical scripts, for one. If they were able to do what they actually claim they're able to do, they'd likely be able to get white hacker or at least legit, high-paying jobs.
Edit: I posted my key in my above post.

 

[JT Smith]

I find the presumption by the hacker(s) that everybody is watching porn videos and masturbating in front of their computers pretty funny. Maybe it's true most of the time? What percentage of men do this??

I also want to note that the screen name "Jack Action" fits that profile.

 

[WWGD]

I find the presumption by the hacker(s) that everybody is watching porn videos and masturbating in front of their computers pretty funny. Maybe it's true most of the time? What percentage of men do this??

I also want to note that the screen name "Jack Action" fits that profile.

Still, masturbating isn't illegal. You'll have the entire 13+ population in prison, no one available to guard them if it was.

 

[jack action]

I also want to note that the screen name "Jack Action" fits that profile.

If hackers use my email based on my screen name they will be deceived as I don't have a camera, so that is how I know, 100% sure, these emails pretending to have pictures/videos of me doing anything are fake.

And if there was a camera they would only find me glutting on poutine and ketchup chips while on PF, like any good Canadian.

 

[WWGD]

If hackers use my email based on my screen name they will be deceived as I don't have a camera, so that is how I know, 100% sure, these emails pretending to have pictures/videos of me doing anything are fake.

And if there was a camera they would only find me glutting on poutine and ketchup chips while on PF, like any good Canadian.

View attachment 334358View attachment 334359​

Poutine on the Ritz, I see.

 

[WWGD]

Yet another one, same content, though this time more brazen.
Rather than using an email (supposedly) randomly-generated within my PC, they used a standard email account:
dcheek@hoflink.com
I'll look into it more carefully.

 

[WWGD]

I've come to suspect that hackers obtained my email address by accessing metadata from pics and other links. Not PF, though. I'm looking for software to prevent it from happening.