“I regret to inform you about some sad news for you” scam (fake) - Free Guide

What is “I regret to inform you about some sad news for you” scam?

“I regret to inform you about some sad news for you” is an email scam that claims embarrassing videos of victims were taken

"I regret to inform you about some sad news for you" is a fake email message you should not interact with

“I regret to inform you about some sad news for you” is one of many sextortion^[1] scam examples that have been spreading around via email and can be received on any platform. Users might get it unexpectedly, and if they know little about these sorts of scams, they can be easily manipulated into paying large sums of money by transferring a specified amount of bitcoin to cybercriminals' crypto-wallet.

The operation of the scam is very simple – crooks claim that the computer was infected with a special virus that can record videos of victims and track their browsing activity. The “I regret to inform you about some sad news for you” email authors then claim that a video has been recorded of victims visiting X-rated websites. This allows them to blackmail users by claiming that the video will be sent out to their relatives and friends if the ransom is not paid in 48 hours.

We recommend not interacting with this email and definitely not paying the requested money, as it is a mere scam. Instead, check your system thoroughly, contact your local authorities, and clean your browser caches just in case.

Sextortion: a popular trend among cybercriminals

Attempts to extort money from innocent users are rather popular in the world of underground cybercrime. In fact, most attacks against organizations and regular home users are financially motivated. For example, ransomware ^[2]has seen a great rise in the past half a decade because it is simply so lucrative – it pushes users to pay because they are willing to risk collaborating with cybercriminals to restore their important files back to normal.

Since the rise of bitcoin in 2017, digital crimes and extortion have become much easier to conduct, as everything can be done via the internet. Crypto transactions are all anonymous, which makes them perfect for malicious operations of cyber crooks.^[3] Sextortion scams started to gain popularity in 2020, and since then, many cybercriminal groups have been attempting to capitalize via this illegal method.

For example, we have previously covered scams like “It's Unpleasant To Start The Conversation With Bad News,” “Unfortunately, there are some bad news for you,” “Your device was compromised,” and many others. These are all the same regarding their scam techniques and purpose – there are just slight variations in the payment details and wording.

Clever tricks used to convince people to pay the ransom

Most users do not expect to receive a threatening email claiming that their system was compromised and their privacy is now exposed to unknown persons. Crooks deliberately wrote a lengthy email in order to psychologically affect users and make them scared about the consequences of this attack. The email reads as follows:

Subject: Don’t miss your unsettled payment. Complete your debt payment now.

Hi there!

I regret to inform you about some sad news for you.
Approximately a month or two ago I have succeeded to gain a total access to all your devices utilized for browsing internet.
Moving forward, I have started observing your internet activities on continuous basis.

Go ahead and take a look at the sequence of events provided below for your reference:
Initially I bought an exclusive access from hackers to a long list of email accounts (in today’s world, that is really a common thing, which can arranged via internet).
Evidently, it wasn’t hard for me to proceed with logging in your email account .

Within the same week, I moved on with installing a Trojan virus in Operating Systems for all devices that you use to login to email.
Frankly speaking, it wasn’t a challenging task for me at all (since you were kind enough to click some of the links in your inbox emails before).
Yeah, geniuses are among us.

Because of this Trojan I am able to gain access to entire set of controllers in devices (e.g., your video camera, keyboard, microphone and others).
As result, I effortlessly downloaded all data, as well as photos, web browsing history and other types of data to my servers.
Moreover, I have access to all social networks accounts that you regularly use, including emails, including chat history, messengers, contacts list etc.
My unique virus is incessantly refreshing its signatures (due to control by a driver), and hence remains undetected by any type of antiviruses.

Hence, I guess by now you can already see the reason why I always remained undetected until this very letter…

During the process of compilation of all the materials associated with you,
I also noticed that you are a huge supporter and regular user of websites hosting nasty adult content.
Turns out to be, you really love visiting porn websites, as well as watching exciting videos and enduring unforgettable pleasures.
As a matter of fact, I was not able to withstand the temptation, but to record certain nasty solo action with you in main role,
and later produced a few videos exposing your masturbation and cumming scenes.

If until now you don’t believe me, all I need is one-two mouse clicks to make all those videos with everyone you know,
including your friends, colleagues, relatives and others.
Moreover, I am able to upload all that video content online for everyone to see.
I sincerely think, you certainly would not wish such incidents to take place, in view of the lustful things demonstrated in your commonly watched videos,
(you absolutely know what I mean by that) it will cause a huge adversity for you.

There is still a solution to this matter, and here is what you need to do:
You make a transaction of $1490 USD to my account (an equivalent in bitcoins, which recorded depending on the exchange rate at the date of funds transfer),
hence upon receiving the transfer, I will immediately get rid of all those lustful videos without delay.
After that we can make it look like there was nothing happening beforehand.
Additionally, I can confirm that all the Trojan software is going to be disabled and erased from all devices that you use. You have nothing to worry about,
because I keep my word at all times.

That is indeed a beneficial bargain that comes with a relatively reduced price,
taking into consideration that your profile and traffic were under close monitoring during a long time frame.
If you are still unclear regarding how to buy and perform transactions with bitcoins – everything is available online.

Below is my bitcoin wallet for your further reference:

All you have is 48 hours and the countdown begins once this email is opened (in other words 2 days).

The following list includes things you should remember and avoid doing:
> There’s no point to try replying my email (since this email and return address were created inside your inbox).
> There’s no point in calling police or any other types of security services either. Furthermore, don’t you dare sharing this info with any of your friends.
If I discover that (taking into consideration my skills, it will be really simple, because I control all your systems and continuously monitor them) –
your nasty clip will be shared with public straight away.
> There’s no point in looking for me too – it won’t result in any success. Transactions with cryptocurrency are completely anonymous and untraceable.
> There’s no point in reinstalling your OS on devices or trying to throw them away. That won’t solve the issue,
since all clips with you as main character are already uploaded on remote servers.

Things that may be concerning you:
> That funds transfer won’t be delivered to me.
Breathe out, I can track down everything right away, so once funds transfer is finished,
I will know for sure, since I interminably track down all activities done by you (my Trojan virus controls all processes remotely, just as TeamViewer).
> That your videos will be distributed, even though you have completed money transfer to my wallet.
Trust me, it is worthless for me to still bother you after money transfer is successful. Moreover, if that was ever part of my plan, I would do make it happen way earlier!

We are going to approach and deal with it in a clear manner!

In conclusion, I’d like to recommend one more thing… after this you need to make certain you don’t get involved in similar kind of unpleasant events anymore!
My recommendation – ensure all your passwords are replaced with new ones on a regular basis.

It is important to note here that people who are IT-savvy would quickly recognize the deception. That being said, scammers do know a thing or two about malware and its capabilities, but they are not as clever as they portray themselves to be. They simply acquired your email from some kind of leaked database (this happens quite often) but otherwise, there are no real signs of compromise on the system. Just to be sure, you should scan your device with anti-malware.

"I regret to inform you about some sad news for you" tries to frighten users and make them pay the ransom

The pressure lies within victims not wanting anybody to know about this situation, as it may be embarrassing, especially when one believes all the crooks say is the truth. This is precisely what malicious actors are counting on – to receive money quickly and easily. Note that this email is sent to thousands of users in bulk, so you are not the only one out there.

How to deal with “I regret to inform you about some sad news for you” scam

First of all, even if you do know that the email is fake, you shouldn't delete it just yet. Reporting a crime provides a great deal of support for authorities dealing with online fraud, as it could help catch the cybercriminals behind it and stop the malicious acts. Here are a few links you could use:

• USA – Internet Crime Complaint Center IC3
• United Kingdom – ActionFraud
• Canada – Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
• Australia – ScamWatch
• New Zealand – ConsumerProtection
• Germany – Polizei
• France – Ministère de l'Intérieur

As we already mentioned, you should perform a full system scan with SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, or another powerful anti-malware solution. Performing a full system scan would confirm that there's no malware on your system, so you can put your mind to rest in this regard.

At the same time, if there were some potentially unwanted or malicious programs on your system, they would be deleted at once (note that infections are unlikely to be related to the “I regret to inform you about some sad news for you” email). If your system was compromised by malware, you should also use FortectIntego to clean the browser caches and repair virus damage done to your system if such has occurred.