An untitled email. The sender’s address? My own. Of course I begin to read it.
“Greetings! Have you seen lately my e-mail to you from an account of yours? Yeah, that merely confirms that I have gained a complete access to device of yours.”
“Complete access”? Is this a new twist on home invasions – a computer invasion? I feel pillaged.
The feeling is so strong, I ignore the grammatical anomalies (“Have you seen lately,” for example. “Have you recently seen” would be a more usual construction. “A complete access” is wrong; “complete access” is right. “To device” is bad; “to a device” is good.)
Those are telltale signs this is a scam. But what if the scammer has indeed taken over my computer? I read on.
“Within the past several months, I was observing you.” (That should be “have been observing you.”)
“Are you still surprised how that could happen? Frankly speaking, malware has infected your devices and it’s coming from an adult website, which you used to visit.”
Aha! Now we have veered into total fiction. Who knows, I may have malware, but I am quite certain neither I nor anyone else has been using my computer to visit adult websites. I have confirmation the threat of “complete access” and being observed for months is entirely fabricated. But what about the malware threat?
I read on. The unnamed sender says he has been watching me via my computer’s camera and microphone and has my entire list of contacts and emails, but that his malware is untraceable; it “utilizes drivers, which update the signatures on 4-hourly basis, which turns them to become untraceable.”
He says he has two videos: one shows me “wanking,” the other, what I am watching while doing so. He will release them to all my social networks and email contacts, unless I “transfer $1350 in Bitcoin equivalent to [his] wallet.”
It’s blackmail, pure and simple. The final clincher: “If, get to know that you tried to send this message to anyone else, I will distribute your video as described earlier.”
Now I’m laughing out loud. How ludicrous! But wait – let’s report it. But who to?
Why, to the most bilingual department of the Quebec Government, of course: Revenu Québec. It’s online at revenuquebec.ca/en/contact-us/contact-us-individuals/report-a-loss-or-theft-of-personal-information/, or 1 800 267-6299 (option 2).
The Canada Revenu Agency has scads of information about scams and fraud (canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/fraud-scams.html), but I cannot find any blackmail attempts listed there that try to teach me how to “buy bitcoin” and transfer $1350 to the scammer’s “bitcoin wallet address (BTC Wallet): 14dbcD3gXf5eHkYuA2PYf2nakQ5B7hVqHj.”
Hah! What a magnificent address. I’m sure no one would be able to trace it. And I’m quaking in my boots that having written about this tawdry attempt at intimidation, I risk exposure. Hah!
Long story short, I click on “report scam” and get rid of this piece of trash.
You know, maybe the internet cuts down on paper (maybe!), but it certainly opens the floodgates to a lot of virtual scum. Every new disaster in the world—the invasion of Ukraine, the climate disaster unfolding around us, the pollution crisis, the Covid era, the accelerating extinction of species, the proliferation of porn sites—any and all can used as a basis to try to snatch personal information or money from us. The virtual waters are shark-infested.
MICHELLE LEPITRE
Congratulations to Michelle Lepitre of Cookshire-Eaton for her promotion to the new top management team of Townshippers’ Association. She and Maggie Severs are the new two-person team, with Lepitre directing programs and communications, and Severs responsible for operational management and public relations. They will share responsibility for day-to-day operations, human resources, administration and advocacy.
“It is important to us to represent the interests of our fellow community members—as we have been doing for several years now through our agent roles in the health and social services,” said Michelle. We want all English speakers in the Townships to feel like Townshippers’ Association is an organization they can rely on to defend their interests, and a place they can reach out to for help and support when needed.”
THE SUN RISES
The April Townships Sun is late because of a delay in paper delivery, but the wait is worth it, I hope. You can get your copy in the newsstand at the Cookshire IGA, at the very front, facing the cash registers. Happy Sunrise!
LINES, RITUALS, CEREMONIES
The 70-some members of the Club Photo de Sherbrooke are exhibiting their work at the Uplands Cultural and Heritage Centre, 9 Speid Street in Lennoxville. The theme, “lines,” results in a variety of imaginative and personal photos. Uplands is open Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The exhibit ends June 19. Also, the outdoor photo exhibit, “Rituals and Ceremonies” by Gabriel Safdie, continues until May.
“THREE R’S” FOR CANTERBURY
You know spring is here, because it is time to plan ahead for the Canterbury Flea Market, July 30-31. If you have good quality items that you would like to donate to the Canterbury Center fund-raising campaign, please call Tony De Melo at 819-872-3400 (leave a message) before July 15. Pick-up is provided, if required. All proceeds go to the restoration of the former Christchurch Canterbury, now Canterbury Center. Re-use, Re-cycle, Reduce. Please!
CHURCHES
United. For service information, please check the United Eaton Valley Pastoral Charge answering machine at 819-889-2838. For pastoral emergencies, contact Rev. Mead Baldwin at 819-837-1112.
Baptist. Regular in-persons services are in French at 9 a.m., in English at 11 a.m., respecting Covid protocols, including masks and hand sanitizing. For information, please contact Pastor Michel Houle at 819-239-8818.
Anglican. Bishop Bruce Myers offers Home Prayers at a new time—4 p.m.—on Sundays via Facebook, and at quebec.anglican.ca (Worship Videos). Info: 819-887-6802, or quebec.anglican.ca.
Do you have news to share? Call 819-640-1340 or email rawrites@gmail.com by April 18 for publication April 27, and by May 2 for May 11.