If you thought fake news was bad, then you won’t believe what’s coming our way in the future. Widely seen as the next generation of hoaxes, Deepfakes are videos that use artificial intelligence to edit faces, motion, and speech with scary accuracy. In a Deepfake video, you can make any politician say anything you want, or swap the face of a person you know on a salacious picture for instant blackmail. The worst part: it’s getting harder to tell them apart from the real thing. This video might disturb you.
Blackmail warning: Hackers are sending X-rated emails
Scammers know all the tricks to catch potential victims in their data-stealing traps. Hidden malware, fake advertising, or bogus phishing apps are all part of a cybercriminal’s technological arsenal. But there is one aspect that scammers frequently target: the human mind.
Tricking a victim into clicking on a malicious link takes some skill, but mentally manipulating them into action is fraud on a completely different level. The covert techniques aren’t anything new, but lately, it has become more prevalent. Tap or click here for reasons you’re getting so much email spam.
Mainly targeting professionals with male-sounding names, a new email campaign is spreading NSFW content to work inboxes. In the hopes of shocking victims into doing something irrational, cybercriminals manipulate office workers to install malware. Keep reading for all the shady details.
Here’s the backstory
X-rated material, frequently used in sextortion attacks, is not the preferred method of criminals. Corporate email networks usually root out any content that contravenes the organization’s policies, so it never reaches the intended recipient.
But a new trend has been discovered by the GreatHorn Threat Intelligence Team, where the use of not-safe-for-work content in email scams increased by nearly 1,000% over the past year. The main goal? Shocking the receiver into making hasty decisions.
Having an X-rated email pop up in your corporate inbox can have dire consequences, as well as a potential meeting with Human Resources. Acting fast to get rid of it, cybercriminals hope that you will click on one of the many malicious links.
Known as “dynamite phishing,” the purpose is to shock you into making the questionable email disappear quickly.
“It doesn’t always involve explicit material, but the goal is to put the user off balance, frightened — any excited emotional state — to decrease the brain’s ability to make rational decisions,” explains GreatHorn in a blog post.
What happens when clicked?
Spam emails should never be opened, and links should never be click on. In the case of this campaign, just opening the mail is enough to trigger a malicious response. Linked to infected URLs, the spam mails can:
- Automatically download malware onto your computer.
- Redirect the user to other spam websites like fake dating sites, where your financial data can be stolen.
- Install trackers to keep tabs on your browsing habits for later extortion.
Don’t open this email about a 'Zoom conference call' – it’s a ‘sextortion’ scam
Sextortion is a nasty kind of scam that too many people are unfortunately falling for. Most of the time, scammers are bluffing when they claim to have blackmail over their victims — but that hasn’t stopped them from racking up millions of dollars in stolen funds.
Peeping Tom caught in the act
Target shoppers saw him slip a phone under a woman’s dress (ew). Plus, get updates on the TikTok ban, dark web blackmail, and a major ground beef recall. We also talk with popular YouTuber Kitboga about taking on scammers by wasting their time.
Console yourself; it’s game over: Malware called Winos4.0 is targeting Windows gamers. It sneaks in through infected third-party game mods. Once it’s on your system, cybercriminals play their own games, looking for crypto and taking screenshots of what you do so they can blackmail you. PSA: Skip the mods.
Scammers text threats and photos of your own kids to scare you - Don't fall for it
Phone scams are all about deception — but fear is another tactic that scammers are more than happy to use against you. And if they can frighten you into sharing personal data, you can bet that they’ll push for your money, too.
Security alert: 100 million search engine records revealed online
Admit it: All of us have items in our search history that we aren’t proud of. Whether you’re looking up obvious information that everyone should know or gross medical symptoms, there’s a reason we try to keep our search history private from others. It’s our personal business, after all.
Watch out for this COVID-19 blackmail scam
We’ve seen a lot of COVID-19 related scams appear in the past few weeks. In fact, the issue has become so disruptive that agencies like the FTC and FBI are warning consumers to tread cautiously when checking their emails or answering phone calls.
Don't open this email - it's a cleverly-disguised 'sextortion' scam
Few things are scarier than a direct threat to you and your family. Whether it comes by email, text, or phone call, an extortion message can feel like a disgusting violation of privacy.
But add sexual blackmail to the mix, and all bets are off. If you’ve ever gotten an email from a hacker claiming they’ve got you on tape watching porn, you know exactly how disturbing “sextortion” scams are. Tap or click here to see why they’re back in the news again.
Don't believe your ears. Is voice cloning the future for clever scammers?
There are already enough concerns in life out there to keep people with anxiety up at night. Think things can’t get any worse? Well, you’re wrong. New voice impersonation technology could be a game-changer for scammers.
This data breach happened 5 years ago, now victims are being targeted
Data breaches are just one step in a multi-pronged attack on your digital life. When your personal information gets stolen, that’s usually only the opening salvo. What follows after can be anything from targeted harassment and spam to full-blown ransom emails.
