09-09-2020 , 07:06 PM
https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/spam-with...eat/36984/ Bomb threat spam
Cybercriminals are trying to extort money from companies by threatening to bomb their offices.
Roman Dedenok
September 9, 2020
In terms of structure and delivery method, this type of blackmail is the logical continuation of scam mailings threatening to publish users’ private information. The extortionists aren’t choosing specific targets for such threats; they use huge mailing lists and hope that at least some of the recipients will take the threat seriously enough to pay up.
The main difference in the “explosive” version is the increase in the ransom amount. Whereas individuals are asked to cough up the equivalent of $500–1,000 in bitcoin (the maximum we’ve seen was around $5,000), for companies supposedly rigged with explosives the amount rises to roughly $20,000.
The bulk of the scam e-mails are written in German, but we found English versions as well. This batch of attacks appears thus far to be the work of just one entity, but if victims succumb to the threat and transfer money, the method is sure to attract imitators.
Another potentially distinguishing feature of this new wave of extortion e-mails is the potential punishment: Blackmail is a crime in itself, but some countries have separate laws for false bomb threats.
Cybercriminals are trying to extort money from companies by threatening to bomb their offices.
Roman Dedenok
September 9, 2020
In terms of structure and delivery method, this type of blackmail is the logical continuation of scam mailings threatening to publish users’ private information. The extortionists aren’t choosing specific targets for such threats; they use huge mailing lists and hope that at least some of the recipients will take the threat seriously enough to pay up.
The main difference in the “explosive” version is the increase in the ransom amount. Whereas individuals are asked to cough up the equivalent of $500–1,000 in bitcoin (the maximum we’ve seen was around $5,000), for companies supposedly rigged with explosives the amount rises to roughly $20,000.
The bulk of the scam e-mails are written in German, but we found English versions as well. This batch of attacks appears thus far to be the work of just one entity, but if victims succumb to the threat and transfer money, the method is sure to attract imitators.
Another potentially distinguishing feature of this new wave of extortion e-mails is the potential punishment: Blackmail is a crime in itself, but some countries have separate laws for false bomb threats.