Extortion e-mails are a type of scam, where cyber-criminals send threatening messages to individuals or organisations demanding payment in exchange for not releasing sensitive or embarrassing information. These e-mails typically claim that the sender has compromising information, such as private photos or personal data and threaten to share it with the recipient’s friends, family or the public unless a payment is made.
The objective of these e-mails is to scare the recipient into paying the demanded amount, even though there might not be any compromising information to release.
How to identify the scams:
Many times you will receive a call (or message or e-mail) from someone claiming to be from a government authority / department.
The caller will claim that you owe money and threaten you with legal action or arrest. The caller will tell you that to fix the matter, you will need to pay a penalty amount.
The caller may ask for your personal information, such as your passport details, date of birth or bank information. In some cases, the caller will already have your personal information like Aadhar details, PAN details, etc.,
The caller will claim that the police will come to your doorstep and arrest you if you do not pay the fee or fine right away. Thereafter, you would be asked to transfer money to an account to ‘keep it safe’ or for ‘further investigation’.
What you can do to protect yourself
Don’t be pressured by such calls. Simply hang up.
Don’t pay any money or click on any payment links.
Always verify the callers identity by approaching the organisation / department concerned directly. Have a look at the organisation’s official website and search for the contact details
Ignore text messages or e-mails. If you do, this will encourage the scammers to make more efforts in approaching you or pressurising you.
Do not share sensitive data like credit card / debit card, bank account details, details of driving license, passport, aadhar etc.
If you think you have been compromised, lodge a police complaint. You may also report such incidents to 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in. Do not delay in lodging complaints. The more you delay the less the chance of getting your lost money.
Recent Comments