Tell HN: Simple ransom spam results in success

3 points by hippich 7y ago ↗ HN

So I was going through my spam folder and noticed email below. Essentially, spammer told me they recorded me watching porn and bitcoin address where I should send 650 USD equivalent to erase these records. I was like "what a waste of spam". But then decided to check bitcoin wallet - it actually received about 1500 USD worth of payments - https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/17viZFKw1Xn8WQcpC6GwLqjzLTcE7qBJ93

Not sure what to get out of it, but found it is very interesting. Why hijack a computer and encrypt files, when you can just send a spam email and get the same result...

The original email: https://pastebin.com/JhtduV3W

3 comments

[ 1.3 ms ] story [ 16.2 ms ] thread

walrus01 7y ago ↗

Has anyone done an analysis of the btc addresses associated with the recent bomb threat spam, to see how much money they received?

ref: https://www.google.com/search?q=bitcoin+bomb+threat+spam&num...

voyager2 7y ago ↗

  I got a couple of those, both demanding $800.  Maybe the $650 threshold gets a few more hits.

PaulHoule 7y ago ↗

Now all you need to do is track down who sent the payment, then blackmail them with (1) I know you've been watching porn, and (2) I know you paid somebody off...