Ask HN: How to deal with a blackmailer who wants Bitcoin?

1 points by maxxxxx 7y ago ↗ HN

I just got an email from somebody who has a password I used to use a long time ago. Not sure how he got it. He threatens to release bad information about me. I am inclined to ignore it but now I am wondering: He wants to have a payment in Bitcoin. Is there a way to trace that address to someone or somehow else go after that person?

5 comments

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icedchai 7y ago ↗

Just ignore it. He probably got them from a dump and is spamming everyone.

pwg 7y ago ↗

Ignore - it is most likely just a scam.

hn-VZ4N8hcYCjKw 7y ago ↗

Con: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/technology/personaltech/p...

maxxxxx 7y ago ↗

That article has a link to https://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx/. You can report the incident there. More people should know about this.

dnh44 7y ago ↗

I’ve had about 5 of those in the last two weeks. I wouldn’t worry about it.

You can probably figure out where they got your password by going to:

https://haveibeenpwned.com