HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Leaders at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) say students need to be on alert after a number of “sextortion” scams were reported on campus.
According to an email sent to students on Tuesday, UAH Police have received reports of the scams over the past week. The email was signed by both UAH Police Chief Brian R. Cozby and Dr. Ronnie Hebert, the Dean of Students.
The scams typically involved victims receiving an email from an alleged hacker claiming to have footage of the victim watching pornography. The hacker then threatens to send the footage to the victim’s contacts unless a ransom is paid.
The scammers will also contact victims through social media, online dating sites, or online games.
“The goal of those committing this crime is usually to force victims to hand over money or share more sexual content,” the email from Cozby and Hebert stated. “Sextortion can often be a form of organized crime.”
The “sextortion” scam itself looks more legitimate than typical scams. This is because scammers will often use actual usernames and passwords in the subject line of the phishing email.
Those passwords came from large data breaches leaked onto the web, according to the FBI.
“The victim’s computer was not actually hacked,” the…
