The Northampton County District Attorney’s Office is warning residents of a new scam in which the sender of an email threatens to release explicit photos of the recipient unless they send money.
The scam is initiated with an email containing a picture of the victim’s home taken from Google Maps, a Sept. 10 news release said.
“The email then threatens the recipient, stating that the sender has disconcerting footage of the recipient obtained through spyware that was installed on the (victim’s) phone,” the DA’s office said. “According to the email, if the recipient does not scan an attached QR code to send the sender a sum of money in the form of Bitcoin, the footage will be released to all contacts stored on the victim’s phone.”
The DA’s office said this type of scam is a form of “sextortion,” in which an attempt is made to blackmail someone by threatening to release explicit photos and/or videos.
“Though these scammers will claim to know all of your personal information, this footage does not exist and no one should send these scammers any form of payment,” the news release said.
Anyone who receives this type of email is encouraged to contact their local law enforcement agency if they wish to file a report about it. If not, it is recommended that recipients delete the email.
The DA’s office said that along with other local law enforcement agencies it is actively investigating the scam.
This local news story was reported with generative AI assistance.
