About “You Are Now On The Radar Of An International Group Of Hackers” email scam

If you receive an email that says “You Are Now On The Radar Of An International Group Of Hackers”, know it is a sextortion scam email. The email claims that a “hacker” was able to infiltrate the recipient’s computer and make a private video of them watching pornography. They threaten to send the video to the recipient’s contacts if they do not agree to pay $1490. The email is nothing more than a scam and its contents can be ignored.

 

 

 

The “You Are Now On The Radar Of An International Group Of Hackers” email is a typical sextortion scam. It follows the same pattern as all other sextortion scams, though different scammers likely operate them. The scammer first tries to alarm users with subject lines like “For your own safety, I highly recommend reading this email”. The fake email explains that the recipient’s computer has been infected with malware that gave the “hacker” access to the device, allowing them to turn on the microphone and camera. This supposedly led the hacker to make a video of the recipient watching pornography. They threaten to send the video to all users’ contacts (which the hacker claims to have stolen) if they do not pay the requested $1490 in Bitcoin.

The hacker claims to be from an international group of hackers, though they are nothing more than a common scammer. The email is written in a very mocking way, with a strong emphasis on how the recipient should be ashamed of their pornography viewing habits. This scare tactic is meant to pressure users to react quickly, without double-checking anything. Even users who have never visited pornography websites may become alarmed enough.

The contents of the email are entirely fake. The supposed hacker is nothing more than a scammer, and there is no video of the email recipient watching pornography. Their computer is also not infected with malware unless it’s completely unrelated to this email. Thus, users can remove “You Are Now On The Radar Of An International Group Of Hackers” email from their inboxes if they receive it.

Here is the full “You Are Now On The Radar Of An International Group Of Hackers” email scam text:

Subject: For your own safety, I highly recommend reading this email.

Hello,
You are in big trouble.
However, don’t panic right away. Listen to me first, because there is always a way out.

You are now on the radar of an international group of hackers, and such things never end well for anyone.
I’m sure you’ve heard of Anonymous. Well, compared to us, they are a bunch of schoolboys.
We are a worldwide network of several thousand professionals, each with their own role.

Someone hacks corporate and government networks, someone cooperates with intelligence agencies on the most delicate tasks,
and someone (including me) deals with people like you to maintain the infrastructure of our group.
“What kind of people like me?” – that is the question you are probably asking yourself now.

The answer is simple: people who like to watch highly controversial and, shall we say,
unconventional pornography on the internet that most normal people would consider perverted.
But not you!

In order to leave you without any doubts, I’ll explain how I found it out.
Two months ago, my colleagues and I installed spyware software on your computer and then gained access to all of your devices, including your phone.
It was easy – one of those many pop-ups on porn sites was our work.

I think you already understand that we would not write to an ordinary man who watches “vanilla” and even hardcore porn – there is nothing special about that.
But the things you’re watching are beyond good and evil.
So after accessing your phone and computer cameras, we recorded you masturbating to extremely controversial videos.
There is a close-up footage of you and a little square on the right with the videos you’re pleasing yourself.
However, as I said earlier, there is always a way out, because even the most degraded sinner deserves leniency.
You are lucky today because I am not a sadist who enjoys other people’s suffering.
Only money matters to me.

Here is your salvation: you must transfer $1490 in Bitcoin to this BTC cryptocurrency wallet: 13RuNi9xhDN5ngYy251h4WFDYoE3VA4kPJ

You have exactly 48 hours to make the payment, so think less, and do more.
As soon as I receive confirmation of the transaction, I will delete all compromising content and permanently disable our computer worm.
Believe me, I always abide by gentleman’s agreements. Even with people who are hardly gentlemen. Because it’s nothing personal, just business.

If I do not receive a payment, I will send all videos of you to every person in your contact list, messengers and email.
Relatives, loved ones, colleagues, friends-everyone you’ve ever been in contact with will receive them.
You understand perfectly well that you will never be able to wash this stain on your reputation.
Everyone will remember you as sick as fuck.
Your life will be completely ruined, and, most likely, only a tightened noose around your neck will be able to save the day.

How do scammers obtain email addresses?

Sextortion scam email targets are usually users whose email addresses have been leaked or part of a data breach. Users’ information is leaked by all kinds of services, and it happens more often than users realize. When information is leaked or part of a breach, it ends up on hacker forums. Malicious actors buy this information to use for their malicious campaigns. Users can check whether their email address has been leaked on haveibeenpwned.

Some sextortion scams also reveal users’ passwords. This is a common scare tactic that convinces some users that the email contents are legitimate because in users’ minds, how else would the sender know their passwords? In reality, passwords are also bought from hacker forums, the same way as email addresses. Many services have poor security and store passwords in plain text. If such a service gets breached, cyberattackers can steal passwords as well. If a user’s password is revealed in a sextortion email, they need to change it immediately. Passwords should also never be reused.