5-Year-Old Sextortion Scam Still Works!

I recently received an email with familiar content once again:

Hi there! Unfortunately, I need to start our conversation with bad news for you. Around few months back I managed to get full access to all devices of yours, which are used by you on a daily basis to browse internet. Afterwards, I could initiate monitoring and tracking of all your activities on the internet. I am proud to share the sequence of how it happened: In the past I bought from hackers the access to various email accounts (today, that is rather a simple thing to do online). Clearly, it was not hard at all for me to log in to your email account (my email address). A week after that, I had already managed to effortlessly install Trojan virus to Operating Systems of all devices that are currently in your use, and as result gained access to your email. To be honest, that was not really difficult at all (because you were eagerly opening the links from your inbox emails). I know, I am a genius. (= With help of that software, I can gain access to all controllers in your devices (such as video camera, keyboard and microphone). As result, I downloaded to my remote cloud servers all your personal data, photos and other information including web browsing history. Likewise, I have complete access to all your social networks, messengers, chat history, emails, as well as contacts list. My intelligent virus unceasingly refreshes its signatures (due to its driver-based nature), and hereby stays unnoticed by your antivirus software. Herbey, I believe that now you finally start realizing how I could easily remain unnoticed all this while until this very letter... While collecting information related to you, I had also unveiled that you are a true fan of porn sites. You truly enjoy browsing through adult sites and watching horny vids, while playing your dirty solo games. Bingo! I also recorded several filthy scenes with you in the main focus and montaged some dirty videos, which demonstrate your passionate masturbation and cum sessions. In case you still don't believe me, all I need is just one-two mouse clicks to make all your unmasking videos become available to your friends, colleagues, and even relatives. Well, if you still doubt me, I can easily make recorded videos of your orgasms become a public. I truly believe that you surely would avoid that from happening, taking in consideration the type of the XXX videos you love watching, (you are clearly aware of what I mean) it will result in a huge disaster for you. Well, there is still a way to settle this tricky situation in a peaceful manner: You will need to transfer $950 USD to my account (refer to Bitcoin equivalent based on the exchange rate at the moment transfer), so once funds transfer is complete, I will straight away proceed with deleting all that dirty content from servers once and for all. Afterwards, you can consider that we never met before. You have my honest word, that all the harmful software will also be deactivated and deleted from all your devices currently in use. Worry not, I keep my promises. That is truly a win-win solution that comes at a relatively reduced cost, mostly knowing how much effort I spent on monitoring your profile and traffic for a considerably long time. In event that you have no idea about means of buying and transferring bitcoins - don't hesitate to use any search engine for your assistance (e.g., Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.). My bitcoin wallet is as follows: (scammer's bitcoin address) An important notice: I have specified my Bitcoin wallet with spaces, hence once you carry out a transfer, please make sure that you key-in my bitcoin address without spaces to be sure that your funds successfully reach my wallet. I have allocated 48 hours for you to do that, and the timer started right after you opened this very email (2 days to be exact). Don't even think of doing anything of the following: ! Abstain from attempting to reply me (this email was created by me inside your inbox page and the return address was generated accordingly). ! Abstain from attempting to get in touch with police or any other security services. Moreover, don't even think of sharing this to you friends. Once I discover this (apparently, that is absolutely easy for me, taking in consideration that I have complete control over all systems you use) - kinky video will straight away be made public. ! Don't even think of attempting to find me – that is completely useless. Don't forget that all cryptocurrency transactions remain completely anonymous. ! Don't attempt reinstalling the OS on all your devices or getting rid of them. That won't lead you to success either, because I have already saved all videos at my remote servers as a backup. Things you should not be concerned about: ! That your funds transfer won't reach my wallet. - Worry not, I can see everything, hence after you finish the transfer, I will get a notification right away (trojan virus of mine uses a remote-control feature, which functions similarly to TeamViewer). ! That I will still distribute your videos although you make the funds transfer. - My word, I have no intention or interest in continuing making your life troublesome. Anyway, If I truly wanted that, it would happen long time ago without me notifying you! Everything can be settled in a peaceful and just way! And lastly... make sure you don't get caught afterwards in such type of incidents anymore! My fair advice - ensure you change all your passwords on a regular basis.

I did some online research and discovered that the initial reports of this scam date back to 2018. To my surprise, I found it lurking in my inbox again. Intrigued, I decided to investigate the Bitcoin address the scammer had provided. Much to my amazement, over the past few days, five unsuspecting individuals had already deposited $950 USD each into the scammer's account! You can view this development in the screenshot below.:

I've concealed the scammer's Bitcoin address, including all transaction details, to ensure that they cannot be linked back to this post. Why, you might wonder? Well, I've embarked on a small experiment to determine whether I can trace these transactions back to the scammer—a real-life person. If the scammer suspects that their address is under surveillance, they might refrain from moving their money. It's essential to remember that every transaction is permanently recorded on the blockchain and can potentially be traced, even if the scammer attempts to hide their tracks using Bitcoin mixers, which undoubtedly complicates back-tracing. So, let's patiently await the scammer's next move with the funds! I.e. let's hunt some orc!

Usporedba maksimalnog životnog vijeka sa prosječnim životnim vijekom

 Nedavno pročitani znanstveno popularni članak o produženju životnog vijeka, točnije o "genu dugovječnosti", me je inspirirao da potražim jedan graf kojeg sam vidio prije skoro pola godine. I evo ga - usporedba najdužeg životnog vijeka sa prosječnim životnim vijekom, za period od 1955. do 2023 godine.

Premda je u tom razdoblju globalni prosječni životni vijek produžen sa 47 [!!!] na 73 godine, maksimalni životni vijek od cca 120 godina teško se probija. Ali, može se reći da postoji blagi uzlazni trend. Uz napredak znanosti ostaje nam za vidjeti kako će se situacija u skorijoj budućnosti promijeniti. 😉

 

Izvori podataka:

[1] https://www.macrotrends.net/cou.../WLD/world/life-expectancy

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_people

 

Originalni post na redditu:

[3] https://www.reddit.com/.../oc_maximum_age_versus_average.../

 

Komentar OP-a:

[4] https://www.reddit.com/.../12fwu0g/comment/jfhhxw4/...

 

Nadopuna 2023.10.05:

U knjizi Obrisi budućnosti - ideje koje će promijeniti sve (This Will Change Everything - Ideas That Will Shape the Future), 2009, jedan od autora je napisao sljedeće: "oni koji požive sljedećih 30 godina, mogli bi živjeti sljedećih 300". 

 

Knjiga je izdana 2009. godine, dakle imamo još 15-ak godina do 300-godišnjeg vijeka. 😉 Argument je de će medicina tih 30 godina toliko napredovati da će biti moguće produžiti životni vijek za nekih 10 - 15 godina, tijekom tog 'produžetka' daljnji napredak medicine će nam dati još nekih 15 - 20 godina, itd. Osobno nisam toliko optimističan.

 

Točno to je sažeo Korado Korlević u Explori emitiranoj 2023.09.26:
https://youtu.be/srb_opt6rtk?si=pYFNDfWpP5rulz9B&t=2742

Značajan dio i Explore emitirane 2023.10.03. govori o temi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfkNyyy-bWc

The Economist je obradio temu dugovječnosti u zadnjem 'Technology Quarterly' prilogu:
https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2023-09-30

Nadopuna 2024.03.12:

 

Mali, ali ne i beznačajni update nakon šest mjeseci. Već treću godinu za redom, očekivani životni vijek u par najrazvijenijih zemalja svijeta (SAD [1], Velika Britanija [2], Kanada [3]) je u opadanju. Tako se primjerice Velika Britanija vratila 10 godina u nazad. Kao glavni krivac navodi se korona.

 

BTW, prije točno 50 godina, u knjizi "Granice rasta", jedan od 12 predstavljenih modela, onaj kojeg smo do sada i najbliže pratili, tzv. "Business as usual", predviđao je vrhunac populacije 2028. godine sa 7.65B ljudi. Krajem prošle godine par znanstvenika je napravilo 'rekalibraciju' modela sa novim podacima. Prema novom izračunu, vrhunac bi trebao biti 2033. godine sa 8.16B ljudi. [4]

 

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/14/american-life-expectancy-declining/ [arhiva]

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/11/uk-life-expectancy-falls-to-lowest-level-in-a-decade

[3] https://globalnews.ca/news/10116838/life-expectancy-decrease-canada-stat-can/

[4] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jiec.13442