It looks like Bitcoin has quite some clout among blackmailers, no doubt due to the kind of anonymity protection that it provides. The Bitcoin Bomber case proved to be so, and now it looks like extortionists are trawling through 32 million exposed Ashley Madison users, looking for victims from whom they can blackmail. Instead of cold, hard cash, these extortionists are asking for Bitcoin payments instead.
Security researcher Brian Krebs claim that these criminals are threatening to expose users to their spouses, and will renege on that threat upon the payment of exactly 1.0000001 BTC (approximately $232 USD at current rates) from the victim’s account into theirs, naturally.
It might seem rather strange that such an amount is required to be paid, but the criminal him/her/themselves have mentioned, “sending the wrong amount means I won’t know it’s you who paid”. Pretty brilliant on their part, and considering how the amount is not too much to ask for when it comes to protecting one’s indiscretion, you can say that these are extortionists with a heart – sort of. On the other hand, will the blackmailing ever stop once it begins? No one can really tell. All in all, it is always best to play by the rules lest one ends up in a sticky situation like this.
Filed in . Read more about Ashley Madison and Bitcoin. Source: krebsonsecurity