A wave of fake extortion emails is making the rounds, with scammers claiming to be the ShinyHunters hacking group — a real cybercrime gang responsible for major data breaches over the past few years. The emails claim that criminals installed malware on your device months ago, giving them access to your camera, microphone, and browsing history. They threaten to send “compromising” videos to your contacts unless you pay $2,000 in Bitcoin within 48 hours. ShinyHunters has told journalists that it has nothing to do with these emails.
The scam works because the people sending these messages have real email addresses — stolen in actual data breaches affecting companies like Amtrak, Hallmark, Substack, Betterment, CarGurus, ADT, Panera Bread, and McGraw Hill. Seeing your own email address in a threatening message feels alarming and personal. But the threats are completely hollow: there is no evidence the senders have accessed anyone’s device, and no compromising material exists. These are mass-spam scare tactics designed to panic people into paying before they stop to think.
If you receive one of these emails: do nothing except delete it. Do not reply, do not pay, and do not click any links or open attachments. Report it as spam and move on. Paying would only confirm your address is active and invite further scams.