New extortion scam preys on people’s ‘psyche’ by using home photos, names

Police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre are warning residents after hundreds of reports of people receiving extortion email with their names and pictures of their homes.

John Armit, a detective sergeant with the Ontario Provincial Police and liaison officer with the fraud centre, says the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has received over 400 reports of people receiving extortion emails since last week.

The extortion letters contain the full name, personal telephone number, personal residential address as well a screenshot of the recipient’s home from Google images.

Police say the extortion letter claims that the recipient has visited explicit websites and threatens to send a copy to the recipient’s contact list if they are not paid with cryptocurrency by transferring the money or through a QR code.

Armit warns the scam seems be international and that  Canadian authorities and the FBI in the United States are investigating.

“From our understanding thus far, and it’s ongoing is that these individuals have had their name, or an information compromised through some sort of data breach,” Armit says.

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Armit could not say what caused the breach but did say it is thought the scammers are international.

“These extortion frauds, what they do is they play on people’s psyche and fears. They’re hoping when they send these mass letters out that it’s a law of averages that they’ll hit let’s say 10,000 people, and maybe they get 10 people that will pay the cryptocurrency,” Armit says.

Based on the reports received, victims have not used the service which fraudsters are mentioning.

Armit says the fraudsters are trying to extort anywhere from US$190 to US$2,000 people targetted by the scam.

If someone suspects they have been the victim of a data breach, Armit recommends that they contact a credit monitoring organization such as Equifax or TransUnion and avoid scanning any QR codes.

He also recommends people report any threatening messages to their local police force and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Armit warns that online frauds and scams on the rise so its important people remain diligent.

“In the Canadian Anti- Fraud Centre in last year, we received over $580 million in reported losses. We estimate that only five to 10 per cent of victims report to law enforcement or the Canadian Fraud Center so we know that there’s billions and billions of dollars that are being, depleted from our economy through scams,” he says.

Extortion scams are defined as crimes in which “someone unlawfully obtains money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution through coercion”.

Police warn that people should ensure all their social media profiles are at the highest privacy levels and limit sharing personal details on social media.

People are also advised to be suspicious of any unsolicited messages or social media requests, notably those that are threatening or accuse them of owing money for a service they never used or planned to have.

Police say people should never send money under pressure or reply to threatening messages.

Anyone who has received a similar extortion message should report it to their local police immediately. After contacting local police, it is important to report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s via its online reporting system or by phone at 1-888-495-8501.

If you are not the victim, it is still important to report the incident to the CAFC.

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