>It’s Technical. | October 27, 2022 | 3 Min Read | 968 Words

“All your base are belong to us!”

While doing my monthly email cleanup, I checked my spam folder and I came across an oddly polite blackmail email.

”Greetings! I have to share bad news with you. Approximately a few months ago, I gained access to your devices, which you use for internet browsing. After that, I have started tracking your internet activities.” -APT Hacker Group

The email went on to say that they, a self-described “APT Hacker Group,” had downloaded all of the files from my accessed devices and curated a montage of pornographic material they planned to distribute to my contacts and publicly unless I sent 6.4 Bitcoin to a crypto wallet address they provided in the email. Don’t worry, I didn’t do that (I’m not even sure I know how to do that). Instead, I reported it.

Why it matters

According to the FBI, cyber-criminal organizations and nation-states whose business it is to compromise US networks, steal financial and intellectual property, and jeopardize America’s critical infrastructure are becoming a growing threat. (1) Another thing mentioned on the FBI’s page is that October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

What I did

After doing a quick search for the FBI’s cybercrime page, I found an option for filing a complaint.

From the FBI.gov homepage, you can select ‘Submit A Tip’ from the toolbar OR look to the middle of the page under the prompt ‘I Want To’ and select the ‘Submit A Tip’ icon.
After selecting ‘Submit A Tip’ you will be directed to a consent page with a few prompts about the purpose and permissions of the tip form.

FBI Page Screenshot (1)

Since the crime I was reporting was related to “internet-based fraud” and not “federal crimes” or “terrorist activity” I was redirected to iC3.gov.
From the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s (IC3) homepage I was greeted with a brightly contrasted banner directing me to the complaint submission portal.

IC3 Page Screenshot (2)