BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A new email scam being referred to as "sextortion" happening throughout Northampton County has prompted the district attorney's office to issue a warning.
The county District Attorney's office and local law enforcement said they are actively investigating the scam.
It begins with an emailed photo of the victim's home from Google Maps. The sender threatens the recipient, claiming to have "disconcerting footage of the recipient obtained through spyware that was installed on the phone."
Anyone who gets the email, or a similar one, should contact local authorities and should not respond to the email.Northampton County District Attorney's office release
If the email recipient does not send the scammer money in Bitcoin through a QR code, "the footage will be released to all contacts stored on the victim's phone," it says.
The news release urges that the photos or footage scammers claim to have "does not exist" and that no one should send payment to them.
Anyone who gets the email, or a similar one, should contact local authorities and should not respond to the email, the district attorney's office said.
The scam may reach even farther than the Lehigh Valley area.
Police departments across the nation are taking to social media to alert their communities to avoid engaging with the scammers.
