I got this email on the 3rd... basically "bitcoin extortion"... this guy is such an idiot, it is almost laughable. Notice the "cold reading" style with NO specifics. My comments in angle brackets <>.
Of course, this was repeated daily with an increasing bitcoin price. I just removed the alias, since I wasn't using it anyway.Hello,
I am a spyware software developer. Your account has been hacked by me in the summer of 2018.
<The "account" claimed to be hacked is an email alias on the server--not even a real account.>
I understand that it is hard to believe, but here is my evidence (I sent you this email from your account).
(The message headers show "Aaron896Smith @yahoo.jp" as the sender, with a faked "from" address to match the "to" address. Apparently knows nothing about email protocol. Reported him to Yahoo.com for extortion, but they would not accept the complaint as yahoo.jp is a different company, and I cannot read Japanese to find the correct complaint address.)
The hacking was carried out using a hardware vulnerability through which you went online (Cisco router, vulnerability CVE-2018-0296).
<Don't use any Cisco routers... even if I did, they are a separate piece of hardware that does not give access to connected computers--it just routes packets.>
I went around the security system in the router, installed an exploit there. When you went online, my exploit downloaded my malicious code (rootkit) to your device. This is driver software, I constantly updated it, so your antivirus is silent all time.
<Rootkits can only be installed via the "root" account, not an email alias... duh>
Since then I have been following you (I can connect to your device via the VNC protocol). That is, I can see absolutely everything that you do, view and download your files and any data to yourself. I also have access to the camera on your device, and I periodically take photos and videos with you.
<VNC is not installed on the server, nor does a CPU card in a rack in Texas have a camera on it.>
At the moment, I have harvested a solid dirt... on you... I saved all your email and chats from your messangers. I also saved the entire history of the sites you visit.
<Being a web server, it does not have an email client, nor a chat client... heck, it does not even have a browser!>
I note that it is useless to change the passwords. My malware update passwords from your accounts every times.
<Email aliases don't have passwords>
I know what you like hard funs (adult sites). Oh, yes .. I'm know your secret life, which you are hiding from everyone. Oh my God, what are your like... I saw THIS ... Oh, you dirty naughty person ...
<As if you can hide a "secret life" on the Internet, with spyware everywhere...>
I took photos and videos of your most passionate funs with adult content, and synchronized them in real time with the image of your camera. Believe it turned out very high quality!
<Neat trick, since there is no camera... even it if did, it must have one heck of a focal plane to take pictures of someone 2000 miles away!>
So, to the business! I'm sure you don't want to show these files and visiting history to all your contacts.
Transfer $923 to my Bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet: 17EuB8AmyBm81FgCovdr6huCCoSzv2S7nP Just copy and paste the wallet number when transferring. If you do not know how to do this - ask Google.
<The whole message is a scam and this is nothing but extortion.>
My system automatically recognizes the translation. As soon as the specified amount is received, all your data will be destroyed from my server, and the rootkit will be automatically removed from your system. Do not worry, I really will delete everything, since I am 'working' with many people who have fallen into your position. You will only have to inform your provider about the vulnerabilities in the router so that other hackers will not use it.
Since opening this letter you have 48 hours. If funds not will be received, after the specified time has elapsed, the disk of your device will be formatted, and from my server will automatically send email and sms to all your contacts with compromising material.
I advise you to remain prudent and not engage in nonsense (all files on my server).
Good luck!
If your email does support aliases (alternate names for email), it is good practice to make up one for every social media site you register at. It makes it much easier to identify the source of spam and email scams like this one... based on the alias used, there is only one site it could have come from, and I've reported it there.
This guy is such an idiot, his email actually shows up on "humor" sites...
https://hidebox.org/mail/humor-humor-3281505447
But it just goes to show where "humanity" has now gone...