Think an account has been hacked

[destrekor]

These emails are pretty frightening, as it makes me wonder what accounts they have or if they have access to my systems. I get these all the time now it's a point where I may need to change my email that I've had for at least 15 years since it actually puts significant load on my server. I'm wondering if it's just a hoax though. I don't even have a web cam, unless it's my phone they hacked. Android is not exactly the most secure OS and any time you are on data, you're essentially facing the internet directly with no firewall in between and are an easy target.

I have not paid anything yet and nothing has been posted anywhere. I have not actually done any of the activities they say, but with AI all they really need is a picture of you and they can just generate a fake video. I'm often keeping an eye on my network and servers and checking for anything weird and don't see anything, but hackers tend to be good at hiding their traces too... I just keep changing all my passwords it's the least I can do short of completely formatting every single system I have and basically rebuilding everything from scratch. That's months of work. I've gotten to a point where I just use randomly generated passwords for everything. It's a pain in the ass since I need to login to my password manager every time I want to login to something but better safe than sorry I guess. Though changing passwords on it's own is not enough because if they found some kind of exploit in my mail server or something then that's how they're getting in.

I have a feeling I'm not actually hacked though, think they just say that to scare me into paying. They would have probably done more damage by now given I didn't pay.

Don't even remotely fret about it, stop thinking about it. Those who actually obtain some ransom-worthy material are actually going to show you it as proof, there's value and weight in getting the victim to acknowledge "oh shit this is for real."

Check your breach history using haveibeenpwned.com, you'll see the account details mentioned in the email are on the list. Simple scam system that's just a form letter spammed out to email addresses used for website accounts.

But if you do see any passwords have been obtained in a breach, and you haven't changed it from the password listed, then I'd get to expunging that password from every single account that used it. And check that website often and otherwise watch/listen for news of the latest breaches/data thefts to determine if more passwords need changed.

 

[lxskllr]

EFF stickers are spiffy, and a good cause.

https://supporters.eff.org/shop/laptop-camera-cover-set

 

[Red Squirrel]

Don't even remotely fret about it, stop thinking about it. Those who actually obtain some ransom-worthy material are actually going to show you it as proof, there's value and weight in getting the victim to acknowledge "oh shit this is for real."

Check your breach history using haveibeenpwned.com, you'll see the account details mentioned in the email are on the list. Simple scam system that's just a form letter spammed out to email addresses used for website accounts.

But if you do see any passwords have been obtained in a breach, and you haven't changed it from the password listed, then I'd get to expunging that password from every single account that used it. And check that website often and otherwise watch/listen for news of the latest breaches/data thefts to determine if more passwords need changed.

Not really worried about the ransom part more about the fact that they might be in my network, I changed all my passwords long time ago but does not mean they can't get in through some weird vulnerability or something. Browsers are especially bad for security now days, accidentally land on the wrong site, or an ad server gets hit (even with ad block it still has to load it before it's blocked) and you could have something loaded into your machine etc.

That said I'm thinking lot of it is big talk no action. They keep saying they hacked my email server but I would imagine there would be some weird stuff going on by now like my mail not showing up because it's being redirected etc. And if they had access to my mail server why not just take over everything, and they didn't. Like they could even take over my banking by getting a password reset. So it's probably all made up crap. Still scary nonetheless when someone says they are in your network though because if they are good at hiding, there's no easy way to confirm if it's true or not.

 

[zinfamous]

Not really worried about the ransom part more about the fact that they might be in my network, I changed all my passwords long time ago but does not mean they can't get in through some weird vulnerability or something. Browsers are especially bad for security now days, accidentally land on the wrong site, or an ad server gets hit (even with ad block it still has to load it before it's blocked) and you could have something loaded into your machine etc.

Makes me think that I should install one of those Pi hole things. But then that means I have to learn how to do something new. bah!

 

[slayer202]

I get these sometimes on one of my emails, but they password they reference is nothing I've ever used. Someone scammed the scammer?