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Do not trust "Your local network has been compromised" scam email

Also Known As: Your Local Network Has Been Compromised spam
Damage level: Medium

What is the "Your local network has been compromised" email?

"Your local network has been compromised" is a deceptive email, using the sextortion scam model. The message claims that recipients' devices have been infected with spyware, which has obtained compromising content when pornography websites were supposedly visited.

These alleged videos are held for ransom, which if not paid, will apparently lead to the recordings being sent to the recipients' contacts. In fact, "Your local network has been compromised" emails are simply scams - systems are not infected with malware nor has any private content been acquired by the senders. Therefore, these emails must simply be disregarded.

Your local network has been compromised email spam campaign

The emails with the subject "Very very important" state that the recipients' local networks were compromised and the sender was supposedly able to gain access to their devices and record them while they were viewing adult content. This infection apparently occurred due to a vulnerability in the internet router, which allowed additional code to be inserted.

The malware was activated When an adult-themed site was accessed. The malicious program supposedly operates by recording audio and video, and extracting recipients' contacts such as telephone numbers, email addresses, and social media friend lists.

This malware can affect various devices: computers, tablets and smartphones. The messages falsely claim that this infection was not detected by any anti-virus software, since the malicious program was designed to monitor (spy), which they suggest is not malicious behavior.

To disguise the scam, the criminals inform recipients that the malware is no longer present within the system. This statement is an attempt to hide the fact that the device had not been infected in the first place, so even if users attempt to scan their systems and find no traces of such programs, they would not be immediately convinced that the email is a scam.

The messages then go on to demand $500 (USD) in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, otherwise the obtained material will be sent to the collected contacts. Additionally, the scammers claim to be sure that the recipients are able pay this sum, as the fake malware apparently also checked their bank account balances.

The ransom must be paid within 72 hours, otherwise the videos will be sent to the users' family, friends, coworkers, superiors, etc. If the payment is made, the recordings are deleted and the sender promises not to bother the recipient again. Note that "Your local network has been compromised" emails are scams and the threats they make cannot be carried out.

Threat Summary:
Name Your Local Network Has Been Compromised Email Scam.
Threat Type Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud.
Fake Claim Emails claim compromising content of the recipient has been recorded.
Ransom Amount $500 USD in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
Cyber Criminal Cryptowallet Address 1HZ6QJD4pBuxhQa8shRn4Mzstw2XM9KmVe (Bitcoin).
Symptoms Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of the computer.
Distribution methods Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains.
Damage Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft.
Malware Removal (Windows)

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Deceptive emails are sent by the thousand, during large scale operations called "spam campaigns". "I infected your computer with my private trojan", "Я Прôгрaммиcт, Кoтôрый Взлôмaл 0с Вaшeгô Уcтрôйcтвa", "I KNOW YOU OPENED MY LAST MAIL" and "You have 46 Hours in order to make the payment" are some examples of other sextortion spam campaigns.

This is hardly the only popular model. The emails can have various disguises and likewise claim, request or demand different things. They are typically presented as "important", "urgent", "official" and similar. These messages are also used to proliferate Trojans, ransomware and other malware.

Regardless of their purpose, the purpose is the same: to generate revenue for the scammers/cyber criminals behind them.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Systems are infected through malicious files distributed via spam campaigns. The emails contain links leading to download websites of the files and/or the messages have the files attached to them. Infectious files can be in various formats such as executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), Microsoft Office and PDF documents, JavaScript, etc.

When the are executed, run or otherwise opened, the infection process is initiated (i.e. malware download/installation is triggered). For example, Microsoft Office documents cause infections by executing malicious macro commands.

This process is automatic in MS Office versions released prior to 2010 (i.e. infection starts when the document is opened), however, newer versions have "Protected View" mode, which prevents macros from being executed upon opening the document.

Users are asked to enable macro commands (i.e. to enable editing/content) in these later versions and, therefore, download/installation of malicious programs can only begin after macros are manually enabled.

How to avoid installation of malware

You are strongly advised against opening suspicious or irrelevant emails, especially those with any attachments or links found in them, as this can lead to high-risk system infection. Additionally, use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010. Spam campaigns are not the only method used for malware distribution.

Malicious content is also proliferated through untrusted download channels (e.g. unofficial and free file-hosting sites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks and other third party downloaders), illegal activation tools ("cracks") and bogus updaters.

Therefore, it is important to download from official/verified sources, and activate and update products with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers. Have a reputable anti-virus suite installed. This software must be kept up to date, used to run regular system scans, and remove detected threats and issues.

If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Your local network has been compromised" email message:

Subject: Very very important

 

Hi!

 

Your local network has been compromised and I was able to get access and record you while you MSATURBATE on P O R N. The internet router had a vulnerability and allowed me to get in and place some code that was activated everytime a device connected on your network was visiting 18+ content. My code had some specific functions including recording with any camera available on any device, computer, smartphone, tablet and to collect your contacts lists, phone numbers, emails, and friends on social media accounts.

 

Now, maybe you ask... why your anti virus was no able to detect this. Well, my stuff was designed to not steal passwords, bank accounts, PINs, this kind of activity is seen by any protection software as malicious. So, my thing was able only to record video + audio in hidden mode and grabbing contacts information which do not trigger any protection software because this activity is looking normal.

 

To get rid of my stuff from your local network you had to restart any device that was connected on your network, so the code will dump from RAM memory on reboot. The router was already secured by the manufacture and I lost access on it a few days ago which means my code will not run again.

 

So, in order to not send the video to your contacts  with you doing, you know what... Well, you have to pay 500 $ worth in BlT-COIN. I'm well aware that you have the money because I seen your balance. This was the second function of my code, to look for balances.

 

BTC Amount (approximately): 0.055

 

My Address Part1: 1HZ6QJD4pBuxhQa8shRn4Mzst

 

My Address Part2: w2XM9KmVe

 

Important! The address was split in 2 parts, you have to manually copy and paste Part1+Part2 and that is actually my final address where you can send the coins. Also you can search on Google for Paxful, there you can get the coins very easy. Once the coins are sent, the video with you will be deleted and you will never hear from me again. You have 3 days, (72 hours).

 

Also, my advice is to stop watching this kind of content, is messing with your brain. We live in this society and from you ages men are teach to worship women, which is the wrong move. See this got you in this position to seek and look for this type of content. Now I'm now saying to treat women bad, hell no! What I'm trying to say is, the more you ignore women and you focus on other important things, the more they will chase you... women do feel when a male is beta. Watching this type of content is beta.

 

Stop this addiction and replace it with something beneficial like gym, eat healthier, learn a something new. Remember, the more you ignore women and you do not worship them, the more they will chase you.

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Quick menu:

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing email icon Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Email-virus icon Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion email icon Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

  • Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
  • Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
  • Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
  • Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows

Example of a spam email:

Example of an email spam

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

  • If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
  • If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
  • If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
  • If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
  • Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

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About the author:

Tomas Meskauskas

Tomas Meskauskas - expert security researcher, professional malware analyst.

I am passionate about computer security and technology. I have an experience of over 10 years working in various companies related to computer technical issue solving and Internet security. I have been working as an author and editor for pcrisk.com since 2010. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay informed about the latest online security threats. Contact Tomas Meskauskas.

PCrisk security portal is brought by a company RCS LT. Joined forces of security researchers help educate computer users about the latest online security threats. More information about the company RCS LT.

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Malware activity

Global malware activity level today:

Medium threat activity

Increased attack rate of infections detected within the last 24 hours.

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