A form of sextortion phishing scam is hitting very close to home for those who are targeted. 

“You don’t know me, but I know a lot about you.” If you got an email with a message like that, you might start to panic. Emails sent to victims trying to extort them out of thousands of dollars are starting like that.

This is a newer scam the Better Business Bureau is beginning to see, and officials want to make sure people pause before doing anything, besides calling the police and the BBB.

In this latest round of phishing scams, the scammer gets personal. They send a picture of your home and your address. They say they know your browsing habits; they’re going to send explicit videos of you to all your contacts, and they’ve installed spyware on your computer. Threats and demands for money follow.

Don’t fall for it. Instead, BBB officials say to do the following.

“But if you receive something like this, it's important to take a breath, relax, and realize that it's a scam and it's best not to engage with it," said Katarina Schmieder, communications director for the Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York. "Bitcoin gift cards, peer-to-peer payment apps. Those are all red flags and methods that scammers use to extract money from victims.”

Scammers are targeting all ages. And the BBB says we’re on track to break another record in 2024.

They’re still seeing 18- to 24-year-olds losing more money to scams than the older generation.

The Thruway texting scam is still a big issue, too. Thousands of dollars are being lost. This is when people get a text about an unpaid toll. That is not, though, how the Thruway Authority will actually contact anyone.