The Bethel Police Department has received several calls regarding email "sextortion" scams.  Scammers claim to have hacked the recipient's computer and obtained intimate video recordings of them through cell phone or computer cameras.  But Bethel Police say the most common claim in the scam is alleging the victim’s use of a pornographic website. 

The emails can claim to have one of the victim’s passwords for an online account as the subject line; the email may even appear to have been sent from the person’s own email address. Generally, the scammer claims to have access to the person’s contact list and threatens to send the intimate recordings unless a payment is made through Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency.

This scam is a typical "phishing" type of scam where the scammer is seeking information or compliance.  No one is uniquely targeted. 

People receiving this type of email should not respond, not send payment, change passwords and mark the email as spam.  Anyone who has fallen victim and suffered a financial loss should contact the Bethel Police Department to make a report.