Fake virus warnings and "we recorded you" emails: what they are and what to do

Two scams, one trick

Both of these scams rely on the same thing: that you were doing something you'd rather keep private, and that embarrassment will push you to act fast instead of thinking. One shows up as a pop-up telling you your phone or computer is infected. The other arrives as an email from someone claiming they recorded you through your webcam while you watched adult content.

Neither is what it claims to be. Once you know how each one works, they lose most of their power.

The fake virus warning

It usually appears on a low-quality site or after a stray tap on an ad. The screen fills with a red warning, sometimes with an alarm sound or a countdown, saying your device has been infected "after visiting an adult website". It may borrow the logo of a well-known security company or of your phone's maker, and it almost always wants you to call a number or tap a button.

It's a web page, not a scan. A website can't look inside your device, and it certainly can't find a virus there. The US Federal Trade Commission puts it plainly: real security warnings never ask you to call a phone number. The people who answer that number are the scam. They'll talk you into letting them connect to your computer to "clean" it, then ask for payment, often by gift card, and some go on to ask for bank details.

What to do instead:

• Close the tab. If it won't close, quit the browser completely; on a phone, swipe the browser app away. When you reopen it, don't restore the old tabs.
• Don't call, and don't download anything the page offers.
• If you're still uneasy, run the security software you already have, or the protection built into your device, by opening it yourself rather than through anything the pop-up pointed to.

These warnings mostly come from ads and redirects on sketchy sites: copies of real cam sites, "free" streaming pages, and anything offering paid content for nothing. Going to the real site directly, by typing the address or using a bookmark, avoids most of them.

The "we recorded you" email

This one lands in your inbox. The sender claims they hacked your device, switched on your webcam and recorded you while you were watching adult content. They threaten to send the video to your contacts unless you pay, usually in cryptocurrency, usually within a day or two. To make it convincing, the email may quote a password you really used at some point.

That password is the only true thing in the message. It almost always comes from an old data breach at some unrelated website, which is why it's often a password you stopped using years ago. The FTC is clear that these senders don't have access to your computer or your webcam. There's no video. The same email goes out to huge numbers of addresses taken from breach lists, and it reached you because your address was on one, not because of anything you did.

What to do:

• Don't pay and don't reply. A reply tells them a real person reads that inbox.
• If the email quotes a password you still use anywhere, change it now, starting with your email account, and switch on two-factor login.
• Delete the email or mark it as phishing. In the US you can also report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

This isn't the same as real sextortion, where someone actually holds images because you shared them or were recorded on a video call. That's serious and needs different steps, which our guide to cam scams and sextortion walks through. The email version is a bluff aimed at people who can't tell the difference.

If you already called, paid or let them in

It happens to careful people too, and acting quickly helps more than hoping it goes away.

1. Cut the connection If you let someone connect to your computer, disconnect it from the internet and remove any remote-access program they had you install.
2. Change your passwords From a device you trust, change your email password first, then any account that used the same password.
3. Call your bank or card provider Tell them it was a scam. Some payments can be stopped or reversed if you move fast.
4. Report it In the US, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Elsewhere, use your national fraud reporting service or contact the police.

Making both less likely

A few habits cut the odds of seeing either scam. Bookmark the sites you use and go to them directly rather than through search ads or links in messages. Keep your browser and operating system updated, and never install a "player", extension or app that a site claims you need before you can watch. Use a separate email address for adult sites, so a breach there can't lead anyone to your main inbox, and give every account its own password. Our guide to keeping your cam account private covers all of this in more detail.

If a site ever asks for identity documents, check that the request is really part of the site before you do anything; why cam sites ask for ID explains what a genuine age check looks like.

If something claims to be us

GoGirlCam never shows virus warnings, never asks you to call anyone and never emails you about what you've watched. If something claiming to be us does any of those things, it isn't us, and we'd like to know: report it here.