{"id":1084,"date":"2018-08-07T22:30:03","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T02:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/?p=1084"},"modified":"2020-10-20T23:15:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T03:15:30","slug":"bitcoin-blackmail-letter-scam-raising-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/07\/bitcoin-blackmail-letter-scam-raising-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Blackmail Letter Scam Raising Prices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_1099\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1099\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8946_scamletter_193e5vrq-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1099\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8946_scamletter_193e5vrq-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8946_scamletter_193e5vrq-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1099\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blackmail letter<\/figcaption><\/figure>Not all bitcoin sextortion attempts are occurring over email right now. Reports of a highly customized blackmail letter received in the mail and claiming to have &#8220;evidence&#8221; of a &#8220;secret you are keeping from your wife&#8221; and demanding payment in bitcoin in order not to tell, started coming in late 2017 and continue today. Krebs on Security blogged about this scam in <a href=\"https:\/\/krebsonsecurity.com\/2018\/01\/bitcoin-blackmail-by-snail-mail-preys-on-those-with-guilty-conscience\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">January<\/a>. Back then the amount demanded was around $2,500. In May typical reports had risen to around $8,500. Today the letters are demanding as much as $15,500. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Reported blackmail letter bitcoin addresses that included demand amount<\/strong><\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\ttable.tableizer-table {\n\t\tfont-size: 12px;\n\t\tborder: 1px solid #CCC; \n\t\tfont-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\n\t} \n\t.tableizer-table td {\n\t\tpadding: 4px;\n\t\tmargin: 3px;\n\t\tborder: 1px solid #CCC;\n\t}\n\t.tableizer-table th {\n\t\tbackground-color: #000000; \n\t\tcolor: #FFF;\n\t\tfont-weight: bold;\n\t}\n<\/style>\n<table class=\"tableizer-table\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"tableizer-firstrow\">\n<th>Scam Address<\/th>\n<th>Reported Date<\/th>\n<th>Demand Amount ($ USD)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>1AerHTezypgLJHpcDNMd6mdPKJPeQWxPhD<\/td>\n<td>21 Nov 17<\/td>\n<td>2500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>14i82QBptbM11siMo3i5gkv9RpMmN843X5<\/td>\n<td>5 Jan 18<\/td>\n<td>3600<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>17JTXjM2goxynTe19gzi48p336VmZKqoBD<\/td>\n<td>26 Apr 18<\/td>\n<td>8600<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1HuPqHpdkZBSpGGL6gMCfCv4VumQvcwvQm<\/td>\n<td>27 Apr 18<\/td>\n<td>8500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>19fkuKV4TgR9bHK7ioCfEJJyd74ARfhYDX<\/td>\n<td>12 May 18<\/td>\n<td>8800<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1PmvKMqrufyv4ysmhjToDvGWdXHBWpHS6R<\/td>\n<td>17 July 18<\/td>\n<td>15100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>15tTXnvpwmz6cEoUb8dQvmrTe4NDN1zpzY<\/td>\n<td>13 Jul 18<\/td>\n<td>8100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>17qQ5q6gBETZvKihLpqa4oMZKoXCQdVi6q<\/td>\n<td>2 Aug 18<\/td>\n<td>15500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>193e5vrqEooFMX6cq5DCdBRv1N7igjChY9<\/td>\n<td>7 Aug 18<\/td>\n<td>9150<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>However, the scammers may have a problem. It appears not enough people are falling for their ploy. None of the bitcoin addresses reported to BitcoinWhosWho.com have received a payment. Could the reason for the price increase be precisely because no one is paying? Is it better to charge more if only a few are going to fall for it anyway?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sample Text of Letter<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Hello [your first name], I\u2019m going to cut to the chase. My name is [varies] and I know about the secret you are keeping from your wife and everyone else. More importantly, I have evidence of what you have been hiding. I won\u2019t go into the specifics here in case your wife intercepts this, but you know what I am talking about.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t know me personally and nobody hired me to look into you. Nor did I go out looking to burn you. It is just your bad luck that I stumbled across your misadventures while working a job around [your town]. I then put in more time than I probably should have looking into your life. Frankly, I am ready to forget all about you and let you get on with your life. And I am going to give you two options that will accomplish that very thing. Those two options are to either ignore this letter, or simply pay me [USD$XXX]. Let\u2019s examine those two options in more detail.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The rest describes further the options and supposed consequences and then provides a page of details about how to buy bitcoin on LocalBitcoins.com.<\/p>\n<p>If you were about to fall for this until you found this blog post, a little consideration: 1MX96CwmUJABMwAiU4PjSxjm1Avr2cDHPd<\/p>\n<p>***<br \/>\nHelp police and deter future frauds by always reporting scam addresses to <a href=\"http:\/\/bitcoinwhoswho.com\/\">BitcoinWhosWho.com<\/a>. Just lookup the bitcoin address and select \u201cReport Scam\u201d.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_862\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-862\" style=\"width: 1268px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/report-scam-updated2018-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1268\" height=\"551\" class=\"size-full wp-image-862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/report-scam-updated2018-1.png 1268w, https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/report-scam-updated2018-1-300x130.png 300w, https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/report-scam-updated2018-1-768x334.png 768w, https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/report-scam-updated2018-1-1024x445.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1268px) 100vw, 1268px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-862\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blacklist Scam Bitcoin Addresses<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<p>All scam reports are accessible by keyword search on our website or from our &#8220;Blacklisted Bitcoin Address&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/bitcoinwhoswho.com\/api\">API<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The safest place to buy bitcoins is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coinbase.com\/join\/553809f4c00c82deb9000041\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Coinbase.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t forget to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BitcoinWhosWho\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">follow us<\/a> on Twitter and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bitcoinwhoswho\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">like<\/a> our page on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not all bitcoin sextortion attempts are occurring over email right now. Reports of a highly customized blackmail letter received in the mail and claiming to have &#8220;evidence&#8221; of a &#8220;secret you are keeping from your wife&#8221; and demanding payment in bitcoin in order not to tell, started coming in late 2017 and continue today. Krebs &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/07\/bitcoin-blackmail-letter-scam-raising-prices\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bitcoin Blackmail Letter Scam Raising Prices<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[62],"tags":[51,102,101],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1084"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1972,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084\/revisions\/1972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitcoinwhoswho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}