'Moralists', the Latest Extortionists to Begin Using Bitcoin
Visitors and patrons of Switzerland’s largest strip club have received blackmail letters from self-anointed ‘moralists’, demanding $2,000 in bitcoin (approx 4.72 BTC) or face ‘exposure’ with pictures of them visiting the strip club sent to their families. Bitcoin ransoms aren’t going away anytime soon. Patrons of a Swiss strip club near Zurich have been sent letters that threaten to expose them unless they pay a ransom of $2,000 in bitcoin. A copy of the letter was obtained by Swiss TV channel Tele Zueri and reported by NBC News. The extortionist threat from the letters read: We are....
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CryptoCoinsNews and sister-site Hacked have both been targeted in a DDoS attack by extortionists demanding a bitcoin payment. The extortionists also claimed further threats in exchange for a ransom. CryptoCoinsNews, a prominent resource and news outlet for readers looking into bitcoin-, alternative currencies-, block chain-, and fintech-related news was the target of a DDoS attack earlier this morning. One of the extortionists, going by the name 'Jon', sent in an email demanding 2 Bitcoins to reveal 'fatal security vulnerabilities' on the website while threatening to contact our....
Several small, local pizzerias were recently targeted by an anonymous group of extortionists who threatened that they will post bad reviews on Yelp.com if they didn't fork over 1 bitcoin. Extortionists are taking advantage of Bitcoin's anonymity. Thanks to Bitcoin and social media, extortionists can now be completely anonymous. Several pizza parlors, including the 900 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria in New Hampshire, received a threatening letter the other day. The letter was a "Notice of Extortion" and it informed the owner of the pizza place that if they didn't pay 1 bitcoin, their business....
The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) has confirmed a payment of $28,000 in bitcoin toward cybercriminals wielding ransomware. The Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) was targeted by the extortionists, who successfully encrypted the college’s email systems, voicemail and computer networks. First detected on December 30, 2016, the attackers forced a week-long deadline to pay the ransom. According to independent student newspaper The Valley Star, a ransom note appeared on a compromised college server and it simply read: You have 7 days to send us the Bitcoin after 7 days we will....
It is no secret that Bitcoin has become a favorite payment method for hoodlums and malicious individuals. Just a few weeks ago, a lot of companies around the world facing threats of ransomware, which would only decrypt files after the infected entity made a Bitcoin payment. And now DD4BC, a notorious group of extortionists, are targeting Scandinavian companies with complex Direct Denial of Service attacks. If you are a Scandinavian company using a centralized service for any of your business needs, you may be faced with a threat from DD4BC in the very near future. This group of hackers and....
The FBI has changed its stance on ransomware extortionists saying people targeted should refuse to pay the bitcoin ransom despite a previous statement from the FBI encouraging victims to pay a ransom. At a recent Federal Trade Commission’s Fall Technology Series, supervisory special agent for the FBI’s Cyber Division, Will Bales, said that businesses or individuals targeted by ransomware should refuse to pay the ransom, as reported in Dark Reading. He said: People have to remember that ransomware does not affect just one person or one business. It will more than likely move on and affect....