scammer

Infopackets Reader Sam J. writes: "Dear Dennis, My teenage son got caught up in an online sextortion scam. He thought he was talking to a girl his age on Instagram, but it turned out to be a scammer who tricked him into sharing private photos. He ... already sent the blackmailers $500 in Steam cards. Now, they're threatening to send those images to his friends and family unless we pay more. He's terrified, ashamed, and deeply depressed. As a father, I feel completely helpless. How can I stop cyber harassment and online blackmail in order to protect my son? Please help!" My response: If you or ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Steve T. writes: " Dear Dennis, Please help! I am being blackmailed on Instagram and I'm not sure what to do. A few weeks ago I signed up for Plenty of Fish (PoF) dating and matched up with a woman that I believed to be legit. We ... exchanged photos on Instagram and texted back and forth for about a week. Not long after, we exchanged raunchy photos. Fast forward to just a few days ago and she claims to have crashed her car and doesn't have enough to cover the costs. She's asked me to help. I declined. She said if I don't pay, she would share intimate pictures of me with all of ... (view more)

An email scam that aims to exploit embarrassment appears to be back in full effect. The scam involves the recipient getting a message falsely claiming somebody has hacked their computer through an adult website, then accessed their webcam and filmed ... the person enjoying said website. It goes on to claim the hacker has gathered a list of contacts from the user's email and Facebook accounts and threatens to send a copy of the embarrassing video to the person's friends and family. To stop this, the victim must pay the equivalent of $1,900 in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Email Allegedly Tracked The ... (view more)