Con Artists Using Old Sextortion Scam To Threaten People Out Of Money

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBSMiami) – The latest scam circulating online has to do with porn -- and your password.

Con artists are sending emails to people across the country threatening to release compromising videos if you don't pay up.

Imagine opening your inbox to find your name and one of your real passwords in the subject line.

Once they get your attention, with this new, more credible and creepy twist, scammers they try to extort money using an old sextortion scam.

Claiming they have webcam recordings of you. watching adult videos and threatening to send them to your entire contact list If you don't pay up, using Bitcoin.

The good news is, it's a scam. The bad guys don't have compromising video.

The bad news, they do have one of your real passwords.

"If somebody saw that a hacker had your password you could believe they had more dirt beyond that password," said Laura Hautala with CNET.

Hautala says this scam may evolve from porn threats to something you may actually fall for.

"We could see variations of this coming forward, she explained. "You might get an email that's a bit more convincing that has your current password or something really recent."