The “Hello My Perverted Friend” phishing scam targets many blameless victims with deception. The fraudster’s email threatens to distribute explicit personal videos to extort money.
This fear-based social engineering aims to exploit panic and urgency, tricking users into paying ransoms. However, the hackers made no real malware infiltrations, video recordings, or account access. The technically falsified threats manipulate targets through raw fear over their reputation.
What Is “Hello My Perverted Friend” Email Scam?
The “Hello My Perverted Friend” scam email is an example of phishing, where the scammer addresses the target as “my perverted friend” to create a false sense of a hacker who has been spying on the target’s online activities for months.
The email asserts that the phisher gained access to the target’s personal devices months ago, achieving total visibility of browsing history and private webcam footage. Making threats, the scam claims to have recorded videos of the victim masturbating to adult sites. Through fictitious threats over fabricated compromising footage, the phisher attempts to manipulate the target by exploiting feelings of vulnerability.
“Hello My Perverted Friend” Scam
| Name | “Hello My Perverted Friend” Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering |
| Distribution methods | Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains. |
| Damage | Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft. |
| Similar Behavitor | “Password Was Compromised Through A Legitimate Website” Email Scam, “Some Bad News That You Are About To Hear” Email Scam |
| Fix Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Your Account Was Hacked Virus |
How Does “Hello My Perverted Friend” Scam Work?
Employing intimidating and shaming language, the phishing email describes supposed embarrassing sexual acts illegally captured through webcam access. It hopes that provoking panic will manipulate the target. Alleging the use of advanced malware, the scam claims to have easily bypassed security protections. Amping up threats, the fraudulent email warns it will virally spread explicit videos showcasing illegal situations across social media, adult sites, and video platforms. This ploy to ruin reputations gives the impression that such footage could become impossible to remove once publicly propagated. The deception attempts to leverage fear by claiming urgent ransom payment of $890 or more in anonymous cryptocurrency like Bitcoin provides the only containment hope against this fabricated sex scandal. Payment timeframe demands are short, typically 24 to 48 hours at most. Bitcoin wallet addresses are provided to submit funds.
In truth, no hacking, malware infections, or inappropriate recordings occurred. The criminals never gained account or device access as claimed. All technical jargon and explicit imagery threats lack factual basis, simply aiming to intimidate. The “Hello My Perverted Friend” phishing email uses raw fear to swindle money from victims. Preying on anxieties surrounding reputation damage from leaked sexual material, the cybercriminals hope to exploit confusion and urgency to trick targets into complying with ransom payment instructions.
Is It Dangerous?
Although this phishing email does not pose an immediate threat, it is essential to be cautious. Scammers may manipulate recipients into meeting their demands, leading to financial loss. Falling for such a scam can also increase the risk of repeated targeting. We strongly recommend ignoring this fraudulent email, labeling it as spam, and blocking the sender. Doing so not only protects the target but also improves anti-spam filters. Taking proactive steps to prevent such scams can deter scammers from making future phishing attempts against the individual.
How to Remove Malware from Your PC?
Manually removing this malware proves challenging since the threat persists by creating numerous instances of itself across a device. As a result, manual tracing and removal often prove time-consuming yet inefficient. Instead, leverage anti-malware software for effective threat elimination. I recommend GridinSoft Anti-Malware as a fast, lightweight security solution adept at repelling this and other dangers.
Use GridinSoft’s free 6-day trial to combat any threat. For best practices on removing this threat, consult the compiled removal guide below outlining the software’s capabilities against persistent malware. Rather than fruitlessly attempting manual removal, use a purpose-built anti-malware tool to eliminate threats and prevent reinfection. With GridinSoft, rapidly restore system security and peace of mind.
Remove malware with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware
We have also been using this software on our systems ever since, and it has always been successful in detecting viruses. It has blocked the most common viruses as shown from our tests with the software, and we assure you that it can remove malware as well as other malware hiding on your computer.
To use Gridinsoft for remove malicious threats, follow the steps below:
1. Begin by downloading Gridinsoft Anti-Malware, accessible via the blue button below or directly from the official website gridinsoft.com.
2.Once the Gridinsoft setup file (setup-gridinsoft-fix.exe) is downloaded, execute it by clicking on the file.
3.Follow the installation setup wizard's instructions diligently.
4. Access the "Scan Tab" on the application's start screen and launch a comprehensive "Full Scan" to examine your entire computer. This inclusive scan encompasses the memory, startup items, the registry, services, drivers, and all files, ensuring that it detects malware hidden in all possible locations.
Be patient, as the scan duration depends on the number of files and your computer's hardware capabilities. Use this time to relax or attend to other tasks.
5. Upon completion, Anti-Malware will present a detailed report containing all the detected malicious items and threats on your PC.
6. Select all the identified items from the report and confidently click the "Clean Now" button. This action will safely remove the malicious files from your computer, transferring them to the secure quarantine zone of the anti-malware program to prevent any further harmful actions.
8. If prompted, restart your computer to finalize the full system scan procedure. This step is crucial to ensure thorough removal of any remaining threats. After the restart, Gridinsoft Anti-Malware will open and display a message confirming the completion of the scan.
Remember Gridinsoft offers a 6-day free trial. This means you can take advantage of the trial period at no cost to experience the full benefits of the software and prevent any future malware infections on your system. Embrace this opportunity to fortify your computer's security without any financial commitment.
Trojan Killer for “malware” removal on locked PC
In situations where it becomes impossible to download antivirus applications directly onto the infected computer due to malware blocking access to websites, an alternative solution is to utilize the Trojan Killer application.
There is a really little number of security tools that are able to be set up on the USB drives, and antiviruses that can do so in most cases require to obtain quite an expensive license. For this instance, I can recommend you to use another solution of GridinSoft - Trojan Killer Portable. It has a 14-days cost-free trial mode that offers the entire features of the paid version. This term will definitely be 100% enough to wipe malware out.
Trojan Killer is a valuable tool in your cybersecurity arsenal, helping you to effectively remove malware from infected computers. Now, we will walk you through the process of using Trojan Killer from a USB flash drive to scan and remove malware on an infected PC. Remember, always obtain permission to scan and remove malware from a computer that you do not own.
Step 1: Download & Install Trojan Killer on a Clean Computer:
1. Go to the official GridinSoft website (gridinsoft.com) and download Trojan Killer to a computer that is not infected.
2. Insert a USB flash drive into this computer.
3. Install Trojan Killer to the "removable drive" following the on-screen instructions.
4. Once the installation is complete, launch Trojan Killer.
Step 2: Update Signature Databases:
5. After launching Trojan Killer, ensure that your computer is connected to the Internet.
6. Click "Update" icon to download the latest signature databases, which will ensure the tool can detect the most recent threats.
Step 3: Scan the Infected PC:
7. Safely eject the USB flash drive from the clean computer.
8. Boot the infected computer to the Safe Mode.
9. Insert the USB flash drive.
10. Run tk.exe
11. Once the program is open, click on "Full Scan" to begin the malware scanning process.
Step 4: Remove Found Threats:
12. After the scan is complete, Trojan Killer will display a list of detected threats.
13. Click on "Cure PC!" to remove the identified malware from the infected PC.
14. Follow any additional on-screen prompts to complete the removal process.
Step 5: Restart Your Computer:
15. Once the threats are removed, click on "Restart PC" to reboot your computer.
16. Remove the USB flash drive from the infected computer.
Congratulations on effectively removing malware and the concealed threats from your computer! You can now have peace of mind, knowing that they won't resurface again. Thanks to Gridinsoft's capabilities and commitment to cybersecurity, your system is now protected.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
There is a probability that a bit of the promises made by the “Hello My Perverted Friend” are real. However, I heavily recommend you do not follow any of the actions on the banner. Instead, check all the aforementioned issues by yourself – and then make a decision.
There is a high chance that pop-up scams like “Hello My Perverted Friend” will happen due to malware activity. In particular, things like adware and browser hijackers aim specifically for such activities. Along with pop-up scams, it can shift you to phishing pages and malicious websites.
This scam banner is only a scary picture. That being said, following the “instructions” from the banner is what really creates malware injection risk. Usually, crooks who pose as tech support managers spread unwanted programs or even outright malware through such a scheme.
If you did what the pop-up asked, remain calm and revert all the changes that the “support” have made. Next, execute the scan with GridinSoft Anti-Malware to ensure that all malicious or unwanted items removed. Also, reinstall the remote access utility you have installed to prevent any unauthorized connections.
How to Remove Hello My Perverted Friend Malware
Name: Hello My Perverted Friend
Description: The “Hello My Perverted Friend” phishing scam targets many blameless victims with deception. Feigning friendship, the fraudster’s email threatens to distribute explicit personal videos to extort money. This fear-based social engineering aims to exploit panic and urgency, tricking users into paying ransoms. However, the hackers made no real malware infiltrations, video recordings, or account access. The technically falsified threats manipulate targets through raw fear over their reputation.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Malware
