Hacked account
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Hi–just received the following message to my spam from my (email visible only to moderators and staff) account–please advise on what to do. I don’t check out cheeky sites, so I’m not concerned about that–it’s the other, of privacy, security, etc. Thank you.
Here’s the email I received this morning:
Hello!I’m a hacker who cracked your email and device a few months ago.
You entered a password on one of the sites you visited, and I intercepted it.
This is your password from (email visible only to moderators and staff) on moment of hack: [redacted]Of course you can will change it, or already changed it.
But it doesn’t matter, my malware updated it every time.Do not try to contact me or find me, it is impossible, since I sent you an email from your account.
Through your email, I uploaded malicious code to your Operation System.
I saved all of your contacts with friends, colleagues, relatives and a complete history of visits to the Internet resources.
Also I installed a Trojan on your device and long tome spying for you.You are not my only victim, I usually lock computers and ask for a ransom.
But I was struck by the sites of intimate content that you often visit.I am in shock of your fantasies! I’ve never seen anything like this!
So, when you had fun on piquant sites (you know what I mean!)
I made screenshot with using my program from your camera of yours device.
After that, I combined them to the content of the currently viewed site.There will be laughter when I send these photos to your contacts!
BUT I’m sure you don’t want it.Therefore, I expect payment from you for my silence.
I think $812 is an acceptable price for it!Pay with Bitcoin.
My BTC wallet: [redacted]If you do not know how to do this – enter into Google ‘how to transfer money to a bitcoin wallet’. It is not difficult.
After receiving the specified amount, all your data will be immediately destroyed automatically. My virus will also remove itself from your operating system.My Trojan have auto alert, after this email is read, I will be know it!
I give you 2 days (48 hours) to make a payment.
If this does not happen – all your contacts will get crazy shots from your dark secret life!
And so that you do not obstruct, your device will be blocked (also after 48 hours)Do not be silly!
Police or friends won’t help you for sure …p.s. I can give you advice for the future. Do not enter your passwords on unsafe sites.
I hope for your prudence.
Farewell. -
Hi,
It would be helpful If you could share your website URL with us. And please check whether your website is hosted on wordpress.com.
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Can you help me to please delete this post? I’d like to try and connect with WP directly. Thanks so much.
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Hi there, if you believe that somebody has compromised your account, changing your password is the best thing to do. Ensure it’s a secure password: https://en.support.wordpress.com/selecting-a-strong-password/
I’d also suggest highly recommend using 2 Step Verification: https://en.support.wordpress.com/security/two-step-authentication/
I’d also recommend using 2FA on your email, regardless of what services you use. If you inform us of your email provider, we’d be happy to point you in the right direction on how to do that.
This will help keep your account very secure. However, in terms of this incident, I’ve tagged staff as they’ll be able to check if there was any suspicious activity on your account.
Whilst we can only help keep your WordPress.com account secure, it’s ultimately your responsibility to keep your computer secure. Though that email might not necessarily be true, and could very well just be a scam. From my knowledge, it is impossible for a virus to be obtained on a computer just because a hacker has compromised one of your accounts, unless you’ve downloaded or visited something dodgy. Nonetheless, I’d still exercise caution and recommend using anti-viruses where possible, and using strong password & 2FA in the future.
A quick Google search brings up that actually, many people have received such an email. Since this is the case, though I always suggest caution, my personal advice would be not to make any payments. This is a reputable source from my knowledge, and whilst the services mentioned in it are not associated with Automattic (so please exercise caution), it may be of interest to you: https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/13912-hacker-who-cracked-your-email-and-device-email-virus
Let us know if you have any further questions or issues. :)
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I was typing my previous message before you sent your request for the thread to be deleted: WordPress.com only deletes threads if it is a security risk or if it contains personal information. It is up to their judgement to decide if a site qualifies for that, but feel free to state if you’d like any personal information redacted. Details on contacting WordPress.com directly can be found here: https://en.support.wordpress.com/help-support-options/
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Hi there,
Yes we can, If needed I will also tag Staff so that they can have a look but before that It would be helpful If you could share your website URL with us..
As This support forum is designed to help sites hosted by WordPress.com.
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No problem, you’re welcome to post on https://wordpress.org/support for help with a self-hosted site, but I’d still recommend reviewing my previous advice on this likely just being a phishing scam, however it’s still worth using a very strong password and 2FA. :)
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Yes, I have already looked at your link on these phishing scams–I can see that this very similar to the email I received in my spam folder, so that puts my mind more at ease–thank you! And I will look at the other suggestions, too–I so appreciate your help!
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Hi –
I’d like to leave this thread online, just close it to new replies. The reason is that it will likely help someone else who goes looking for details with a similar experience.
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I agree, and I’m OK with leaving it up, as long as well pull the PW used, as well as any other personal info–thank you!
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Hi, I’ve removed the password as well as that person’s bitcoin wallet (no need to support them!). Sorry someone was harassing you like that!
We definitely do recommend changing your password, and keeping it updated often.
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