Las Vegas police warn of ‘sextortion’ email scams

Las Vegas police are warning the public to keep an eye out for cyber “sextortion” scams.

Scammers email people and threaten to release sexually explicit content, police said in a release Thursday afternoon.

“The attacker demands that victims send a specified amount of money within 24 to 48 hours,” police said. “The threat is that if money is not paid, the recording will be sent to every contact in the victim’s phone.”

The emails often include passwords, phone numbers or other personal information to convince the person that their accounts were hacked. Police said the information was probably gained through an unknown data security breach.

The Metropolitan Police Department offered the following tips:

— Never send money, buy a gift card or comply with the scammer’s demands.

— Avoid using obvious passwords or using the same password for multiple accounts.

— Enable two-factor authentication on your accounts when possible.

— Keep webcams covered when not in use.

— Visit haveibeenpwned.com or dehashed.com to see if your email was compromised by a data security breach.

Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.