We occasionally receive these requests for help from university members due to a sort of e-mails claiming:

• one has been hacked
• that webcam recordings of the consumption of pornographic content have been recorded,
• the recordings would be forwarded to relatives and acquaintances if no ransom was paid, and
• (sometimes:) the email allegedly came from one's own email address.

These claims are false in almost all cases. This is because no valid evidence of the records is included. The text is a template and as such is sent to many people. And: falsifying e-mail addresses as the sender address is as easy as sending a postcard in other people's names.

Hence our advice:

• Do not be put off by such scam attempts!
• Do not accept the demands for money!
• Delete the e-mail immediately, as long as there is no valid evidence for the records!

More information about this scam can be found here:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/04/scam-emails-demand-bitcoin-threaten-blackmail