"We have videos of you": the sextortion email scam

The email says someone hacked your computer or your webcam, recorded you watching adult videos, and will send the recording to all your contacts unless you pay, often in bitcoin, within 48 hours. It's frightening. It's also one of the most common scams on the internet, and it's a bluff.

How the sextortion scam works

Scammers send the same message to millions of addresses bought or stolen online. They don't know you and have no video. They bet that a few frightened people will pay before thinking. Some versions show one of your real passwords to look convincing: it comes from an old data breach of a website you used, not from your computer.

How to recognise it

• It claims to have intimate videos or photos of you.
• It threatens to send them to your contacts, family or colleagues.
• It demands payment, usually in cryptocurrency, with a short deadline.
• It's often sent from your own address, or from a random one: sender addresses are easy to fake.
• The text is generic and never mentions anything verifiable.

Common versions

• "I hacked your device": the scammer claims to have installed spyware months ago.
• Sent "from your own address", to suggest they control your mailbox. Sender addresses are simply faked.
• With one of your old passwords in the subject or the first line.
• In broken English or French, with a bitcoin wallet address and a countdown.

What to do

1. Don't pay and don't reply. Paying only confirms that your address is active.
2. Delete the email, or mark it as spam.
3. If it shows a real password, change that password everywhere you use it and turn on two-step verification.
4. If you're worried, cover your webcam: it's a good habit anyway.

Check it with Fishi

Not sure it's this scam? Forward the email to check@fishi.email. Fishi recognises sextortion emails in English, French, Spanish and German and replies within seconds with a clear answer and what to do next. It's free and needs no account.