advice wanted - email has been hacked

[Minitoots]

OOps sorry - this post went through twice. and I can't delete this 2nd one.

My son's girlfriend has just received an email with the title being her email address and a message saying it had been hacked. It's a hotmail account and her payslips get sent to it and that's mostly why she's concerned.

The message states her password from the email account (but it is an old one) It says it hacked her mailbox more than 6 months ago and has accessed all her accounts social networks, email and browsing history. It also implies she has been looking at 'intimate content sites' and has taken a screenshot through the camera on her device (she has it covered up on her laptop) and is asking for $841 in bitcoin to be sent to their account.

We've reassured her that it sounds like a con and she's also checked it all out on the police advice website re hacking but it would be good if anyone else can advise her on what to do.

She has a Macbook so any advice on the best anti-hacking software would also be handy.

[JohnL]

It's fake - they've paid for a list of passwords from somewhere (darknet ?) and try it on.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-sextortion-scam-pretends-to-come-from-your-hacked-email-account/

[fishbiscuits]

Yep, definitely fake. It's a password she would have used to register on another website at some point in the past, which has subsequently been sold/hacked. Maybe a good idea to review all email and social media pwds though.

[maggie222]

Some time ago I received similar scam e-mail... I'd say, people are starting to get creative in money making.

[Sue]

To set her mind absolutely at rest, she could change her current email password anyway?