Pitt Information Technology has observed a resurgence in an email phishing scam first seen in 2018 in which the scammer threatens to release evidence that the recipient visited an adult website unless the recipient pays a ransom. The scammer demands payment to a Bitcoin address within a short time period—typically between 24 and 72 hours. The scammer indicates they will delete all information about the recipient once they receive payment.
Some variations of the scam may also include a password offered as “proof” that the scammer has compromising information about the recipient. In many cases, it is a compromised password used by the recipient many years ago, possibly on a non-Pitt site such as LinkedIn or Facebook.
Regardless, there is no indication that the perpetrators of this scam possess any compromising information about the recipients.
How to protect yourself from phishing scams:
- If you receive a message similar to the one described above, please report it as a phishing scam by forwarding the email as an attachment to phish@pitt.edu. Detailed instructions on reporting scams are available at our phishing awareness page.
- Pitt IT strongly recommends that you do not reply to unsolicited emails or messages from unverifiable sources.
- Avoid clicking on links contained in unsolicited emails, as these may lead to sites that contain harmful software.
- Change your password regularly through the Login & Security tab on the Accounts Self-Service page. You can use Pitt Password Manager (LastPass) to generate strong, unique passwords for every service you use and store them in a secure vault.
- Install Antivirus (Symantec Endpoint) and Anti-Malware (Malwarebytes) Protection. Both are available at no cost through the Software Download Service. Departments can submit a help request to obtain Malwarebytes for multiple machines.
Examples of this scam in the news:
- New sextortion threat making the rounds (ZDNet, April 21, 2020)
- Scammers making $100,000 a month from sextortion emails (Sophos Security, April 22, 2020)
Please contact the Technology Help Desk at 412-624-HELP (4357) if you have any questions regarding this announcement.