Citizens across Canada are receiving “disturbing” letters on both coasts, demanding $1,900 in bitcoin under the threat of having compromising photos and private internet activity shared with their loved ones.
Although bitcoin sextortion scams aren’t a recent phenomenon, scammers have begun utilizing Google Maps street view to mislead victims into believing that the fraudsters have been stationed right outside their homes.
“It’s incredibly unsettling, it’s deeply distressing,” remarked an Ontario woman to CTV News. “They had my name, address, email, cell phone, and a picture of my home’s street.”
York Regional Police (YRP) have recently alerted residents in the Greater Toronto area that scammers are increasingly leveraging publicly available information to appear credible. Information such as passwords, addresses, phone numbers, and social media accounts can be easily sourced if victims have been part of any data breaches.
Without these personal details, bitcoin sextortion letters can feel more like messages from an irritating little nephew.
Read more: Hong Kong uncovers crypto scam exploiting AI deepfakes to produce ‘ideal women’
“I advise you to examine this message closely,” one letter shared by the YRP states. “Take a moment to relax, breathe, and consider it thoroughly. We’re about to negotiate a deal between us, and I’m quite serious.”
Some phrases even mimic song lyrics (that would totally hit). “Yeah, Yeah, I’ve got footage of you engaging in scandalous acts in your room (great setup, by the way).”
A representative from the North Vancouver RCMP noted that all reported bitcoin sextortion threats have thankfully been baseless.
“So far, from all the victims we’ve encountered, [the perpetrators] have not produced any images of the victim, so it’s purely them claiming to have such images,” (via North Shore News).
Additionally, it appears that victims are generally not easily persuaded by these letters. Protos investigated a bitcoin address that had been sent to several sextortion victims, revealing no transactions and a balance of $0.
As a precaution, anyone who receives these communications is encouraged to scan their devices for malware, promptly report the incident to local authorities, and never send any money.
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