The Innocent Targets - Episode One: Sextortion Scams

We wanted to switch things up for today’s article and try writing a daytime soap opera instead of our usual blog. Please feel free to read the following with dramatic string music in the background and all dialogue as whispered, bellowed, or forced through clenched teeth by a cast of longstanding characters.

The populace of quiet Oak Falls… so many simply trying to make an honest living, doing their best just to exist. Unfortunately, even the size of this peaceful little coastal town isn’t enough to keep out modern threats, making many of Oak Falls’ residents… The Innocent Targets.

His alarm clock beeping harshly, young entrepreneur and investor Victor Velez opened his eyes to another day. He remained where he was for a moment, allowing the grating sound of his alarm to help guide his breathing exercises, which he habitually completed each morning before he even sat up. Only after completing this practice did Victor deactivate the alarm and rise from bed.

After a few quick miles on his treadmill and a quick shower, Victor dressed himself for work and stopped in his kitchen for his usual bulletproof coffee. Checking his watch, Victor noted that he had a few hours before breaking his fast, so he took his time savoring the unctuous fattiness of his beverage. 

He was still sipping as he sat in his sparsely decorated home office, allowing the caffeine and his minimalistic environment to focus his mind on the task at hand. Logging into his accounts, Victor quickly started to monitor the various portfolios he maintained. 

His own—the one that gave him his comfortable existence—was performing admirably, while the one he maintained for his parents was generating more than enough to keep them comfortable in the early retirement Victor had always wanted to give them. Victor grinned as he saw how well his charitable portfolio was doing, thinking about how many scholarships he could provide to promising students in his hometown with its returns.

Only then did the small icon in his browser toolbar catch Victor’s eye. Odd, it seemed a little early for the day’s reports to arrive. Despite his computer offering a clock, he reflexively checked his watch. 6:38 AM. Customarily, the email newsletters and alerts wouldn’t start flowing in for another hour or so. 

Curious, the young entrepreneur opened his email.

It was nothing… just another investment group offering their assistance in managing his portfolios. He skimmed the message and chuckled, taking note of the grammar errors that he knew to be a sign that something was up. He deleted the email and went about his day.

After a few hours of monitoring market patterns and investing appropriately (along with a quick trip to the restroom), Victor again checked the time.11:48 AM. It was time to circle back to his email for his next check.

This time, Victor saw his inbox—and all of the folders he had set up in his email client to help organize his incoming messages—had numerous messages in them. Used to this, Victor quickly processed through them, archiving and replying to messages appropriately. One message, however, gave him reason to pause, with a subject line that certainly stood out from the rest:

Someone’s been a bad boy, haven’t you, Mr. Velez?

Victor was puzzled and clicked into the message, despite protestation from a little voice inside his head. Maybe he was just starting to feel hungry, but he was suddenly insatiably curious.

He clicked the odd message and started to read. As he took in the message, he suddenly felt very weak in the knees—and not just because he hadn’t eaten for 15 hours.

Hello Mr. Velez,

Looks like SOMEONE forgot theyre computer had a built-in camera - oopsie

I have copies of some video i took of u during some private time (lol) you had at ur computer a while ago

Breaking in was really easy so thanks for that

Sure would be a shame if ur contacts saw how you were behaving… and i can always make it look like some pretty freeky stuff led to this activity

I have all of the contacts u saved to share my video project with lol so it seems u should do what i say huh?

So what should u do?

For starters, u can pay me to keep ur secret

As he read the rest of the message, detailing how 110 Ethereum would convince the hacker to sit on the footage, Victor felt his stomach twitching into knots. Grimacing, he placed his hand over his washboard abs to try and hold the nausea back. It wasn’t as though the—he checked the price of Ethereum on Google for reference—365 thousand dollars or so would ruin him. It was the principle of it all.

Victor glared at the lens positioned just above his laptop's display, fuming. He was angry that his privacy had—apparently—been breached and furious that he had made the rookie mistake of not covering his webcam while not actively in use. A sudden tension headache struck, making it feel like his head was in a vice… a vice that this hacker was cranking tighter and tighter.

This hacker was clever. They had picked a vague enough time that Victor could not confirm or deny that such footage existed. As the extortionist had so helpfully pointed out, it would have been simple enough for the criminal to make it look like the young entrepreneur was engaging in truly heinous behaviors… despite Victor having no such predilections.

To think that an investment of a few cents—both in fiat money and the common variety—could have prevented this entire problem was infuriating.

Victor was over a barrel, and he knew it. He stood, pacing back and forth through his workspace in frustration, glaring at his computer. He knew he shouldn’t take the bait, but what other choice was there? The risk was just too significant to take the chance.

With grit teeth, Victor returned to his computer and, fully aware of the mistake he was actively making, completed the requisite transfers after converting the money into the requested cryptocurrencies. He sat back, exhausted, and waited for any news.

Surprisingly, he got it. Another message dinged into his inbox, continuing the chain from earlier. It said one single word:

Sucker.

TO BE CONTINUED…

***

Stay tuned for the next gripping installment of The Innocent Targets, where we’ll see what Victor can do next… or maybe we’ll see another resident of Oak Falls fall for an attack. There’s only one way to find out.

The Innocent Targets is presented thanks to Elite Systems, an IT provider Texas businesses can entrust with their critical business infrastructure. Stay tuned for updates, and reach out via (972) 290-2350 to help protect your business against threats and inefficiencies of all kinds.