OMG! I'm being extorted for an unsavory video, but the lottery I won will pay for it!

Welly, well, well...sometimes email makes me want to pull teeth,

Today the email said I was hacked, they said a virus was planted in my computer to take over my built in camera. They said if I didn’t give them $3k in bitcoin, they would release recorded video of me doing something unsavory. OMG! If they only knew. Unsavory? Ha, I'm either too sore or too stiff (no pun intended) or too tired or basically not up for it, if you get my drift.

But, all will be well. Why? Because I have won a lottery, somewhere, I think England because it was in pounds. And besides, if that doesn't work, I have the opportunity to share in a bounty of millions if I would simply aid in transferring it out of Zeblognougan, a third world country I don’t recall learning about in Geography class, I assume so problem solved.

I write fiction, scary fiction and yes, this is scary, but not fiction.

First off, phishing is just like fishing. One is real and one is in cyberspace. Both toss out lines hoping to catch a fish. There is the dinner kind and the money kind, usually the prelim for id theft kind. There is no other. So don’t believe there is a video of you they threaten to release, thus, embarrassing you, your family and such. They sometimes add that if an employer lays hands on it, it could mean termination.

The scariest part is that these fake emails look almost real.

What this email actually does is recruit the conscience to incorporate fear and doubt. Did you and your 'puter have a festive time? heh heh

Take the red pill, fall for the fake and you'll initially lose money and may even forever fight to regain your stolen identity.

You can press delete. Maybe appreciate the scare.

Fisherman won't quit and believe me, phishermen won't either. Their tackle box is loaded with e-mail address lists and spoofing, making the email appear legit by distinguishing it with something familiar like an old user name or password, is the bait.

Either way, your email address is probably compromised. This is the exact reason to periodically change both. Using symbols add extra security too.

In this day and age, most spam folders, like a fast flowing stream, flush most phish away unseen. However, sometimes one sneaks in, usually an overly solemn and gloomy pleading for help email loaded with bad grammar and frequently misspelled words. NEVER click on any links inside these emails or better yet, just delete, stomp, crush, crumble, do whatever you must to get rid of the monster.

A Scary Public Service Announcement

That aging app raging social media owns all images…forever! Read the fine print. Scary Huh?

Staying Scared Craft Corner