The terrifying Google Maps tactic now used by email scammers

People are being sent screenshots of their home location in a bid to scare them into paying cyber criminals.

Those being targeted see a familiar area on Google Maps, with a caption along the lines of ‘Can you notice something here?’ or ‘Is this the right place to meet?’

The idea is to threaten victims by claiming this is not purely an empty online threat.

Details of the creepy new tactic were revealed by cybersecurity firm Barracuda, who said ‘sextortion’ is now a major problem making up 3% of targeted phishing attacks.

Criminals threaten to share explicit photos or videos unless they receive payment, usually in Bitcoin.

They claim to have been able to access the images from the victim’s computer and use identifying details from usernames and passwords stolen in data breaches, but they likely do not really have compromising material.

In many cases, they have sent similar emails to thousands of people at a time as part of large spam campaigns

Higher levels of personalisation make them harder to filter out automatically, and victims are likely to take them much more seriously.

Barracuda said some emails address the victim by their first and last name, and open by detailing their telephone number, street address, and city.

In many cases, emails start like this: ‘I know that calling [telephone number] or visiting [street address] would be a better way to have a chat with you in case you don’t cooperate. Don’t even try to escape from this. You have no idea what I’m capable of in [city].’

The payment demands are also increasing. In the past, sextortion emails typically demanded payments of a couple hundred dollars, up to about $500 (£393) maximum. In the latest attacks seen by Barracuda researchers, the amounts are $1,950 (£1534) and $2,000 (£1573).

While most of the copy in the emails is identical or very similar, there are some variations.