How to identify scams like "We Have Your Search Requests And Webcam Footage" email

What kind of email is "We Have Your Search Requests And Webcam Footage"?

After reading this "We Have Your Search Requests And Webcam Footage" email, we determined that it is a sextortion scam. This spam message claims that Russian hacker affiliates have obtained the recipient's information and recorded a sexually explicit video of them.

If the recipient does not meet the sender's ransom demands, the footage will be made public. It must be emphasized that the information in this email is false and poses no legitimate threat to the recipients.

"We Have Your Search Requests And Webcam Footage" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Read this email or something terrible will happen." (may vary) introduces the sender as an affiliate of Russian hacker groups. The recipient was located during a search for "suspicious online accounts". The supposed hacker has acquired the recipient's "search requests" and accessed their webcam.

The unauthorized access was used to record the recipient while they were engaged in sexual activity and to extract their private conversations. The recipient is given 48 hours to transfer 1350 USD worth of Bitcoin cryptocurrency to the provided cryptowallet address. If they refuse to pay, the search history, messages, and the recording will be sent to their relatives, friends, and colleagues. The same outcome will happen if the recipient discloses the contents of this email to anyone, including the authorities.

It must be reiterated that all the claims made by the email are false; this means that the sender has not infected any devices, nor have they extracted any personal information or made any compromising recordings. Therefore, all the threats made by this scam are fake.

It is pertinent to mention that victims of scam emails like "We Have Your Search Requests And Webcam Footage" cannot recover their digital assets, due to the nearly untraceable nature of cryptocurrency transactions.

Sextortion spam campaign examples

We have written about numerous spam campaigns; "Data From All Your Devices Is Copied To My Servers", "We Hacked Your System", and "Time Is Slipping Away From Your Grasp" are merely a few of our newest articles on sextortion emails. It is noteworthy that various scams are promoted through spam mail, and it is used in malware distribution.

While the widely held belief that spam emails are poorly written and riddled with spelling/grammatical mistakes is not untrue, it is not always the case. This mail can be competently put together and even believably disguised as messages from legitimate entities. Due to this, we strongly advise vigilance within incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns proliferate malware by distributing infectious files as attachments or download links. These files can be documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), executables (EXE, RUN, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth. The infection chain is initiated once such a file is opened.

However, some formats require additional interaction to trigger malware download/installation processes. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click on embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend caution with incoming emails and other messages. Attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant communications must not be opened, as they can be harmful or virulent.

It must be mentioned that malware is not spread exclusively via spam campaigns. Therefore, we advise being careful while browsing since fraudulent and malicious online content usually appears genuine and harmless.

Another recommendation is to download only from official and trustworthy sources. All programs must be activated and updated using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.

It is paramount for device and user safety to have a reputable antivirus installed and kept updated. This software must be used to perform regular system scans and to remove detected threats/issues. If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "We Have Your Search Requests And Webcam Footage" spam email letter:

Subject: Read this email or something terrible will happen.

Good afternoon, my naive comrade.

Unfortunately, this letter will divide your life into before and after.
However, the good news is that it will teach you a lot.

For example, what you can and can't do on the internet, how to treat your online security properly, and how not to leave digital footprints.
Most likely, you have heard about Russian hacker groups such as Cozy Bear, Killnet and others. Well, we work for them.

I hate to say it, but you have got in our mess.
In addition to our hacking activities, we are also running on the lookout for various suspicious online accounts that we would like to make money on.
We guess you are beginning to realize how we located you.

All normal people have their own sexual preferences.
However, what you are trying to find on the internet doesn't fit into any, even the loosest moral standards.
Now we have your search requests and your webcam footage while you are pleasuring yourself.

We set a timer for public release. Nevertheless, don't worry, there's good news also.
Money is our only interest. Even among us, there are some strange persons, but they bring us so much profit that we ignore their deviations.

In this case, YOU should bring us the profit. For $1350 you and us will forget about each other forever.
You have 48 hours from the moment you open this email to transfer this $1350. We will be notified when you read the letter.
Here is the address of the Bitcoin wallet you should use for the payment: 151s4gb1C5BZawhJM5UxEHkAPfh17KGFCx

Countdown has started, don't keep us waiting.
Otherwise, all your friends, colleagues and relatives will get a copy of your records: search history, webcam videos and even personal messages.
!Do not forward this message to anyone, including the police. Doing so will result in the automatic posting of all information about you. We monitor what you are doing.
!Do not reply to this message. It was sent from a disposable email account, you can't reply it, this email address is untraceable.

If you haven't used crypto before everything is simple. Just google it.
That's the end of our message. As they say, we hope for a fruitful cooperation. Otherwise, this will all end badly for you.
Goodbye, and hopefully this is our last interaction.

P. S. Remember for the future, the Internet is not some kind of a Wild West where you can do anything you want.
There is a wholesome shiver of hungry sharks searching for irresponsible persons like you.

Appearance of the "We Have Your Search Requests And Webcam Footage" spam email (GIF):

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Quick menu:

• What is "We Have Your Search Requests And Webcam Footage" sextortion scam?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

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.

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 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:

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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

Spam emails are not personal, even if they include information relevant to the recipients. Cyber criminals distribute these emails by the thousand with the hopes that at least some recipients will fall for their scams.

Was my computer actually hacked and does the sender have any information?

No, the claims made by sextortion scam emails are false. Therefore, the sender has not infected any of your devices with malware, and they have not stolen any private information from your systems (nor recorded any compromising videos).

How did cyber criminals get my email password?

In some cases, sextortion emails are sent from the recipient's own email account – this creates a sense of legitimacy to any hacking claims. Typically, scammers obtain email log-in credentials through phishing scams (e.g., victims enter their passwords into fake sign-in pages, etc.). It is less likely for this information to have been obtained through a compromise on the recipient's end. The least probable scenario for the data to have been acquired via a data breach on a service provider's end.

I have sent cryptocurrency to the address presented in this email, can I get my money back?

No, cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible because of their practically untraceable nature. Hence, victims of scams like this email cannot recover their digital assets.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by a spam email, what should I do?

If you have provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. However, if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.

I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No, reading an email does not pose an infection threat. Devices are compromised when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?

If the opened file was an executable – most likely, yes – the system was infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document. These formats may require additional actions (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.) to initiate malware infiltration processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate practically all known malware infections. Remember that performing a complete system scan is essential since sophisticated malicious programs usually hide deep within systems.