The Bozeman Police Department is sending a warning to all Montanans about a serious scam making the rounds via email.
The Pegasus sextortion scam is an AI-generated scam where victims receive an extremely personalized email with a PDF attachment.
Dana McNeil is the Detective Captain for the Bozeman Police Department. He says this a more sophisticated version of scams they’ve seen before, because the email contains the victim's name and address, and includes a picture of the person’s residence - likely pulled from a search engine map, which makes it seem more legitimate like this is coming from a person who had actually been outside your house. The scam can also data mine other information out of the internet based on that address and get more information.
McNeil said the scammers tell victims they have a spyware app called “Pegasus” that allows them to look at everything on your phone. The victim is told they have 24 hours to pay up or embarrassing photos or videos of them will be released to their contacts.
Bozeman Police warn that this is a scam and say to not respond or pay the ransom. And, do not open emails or links from unknown senders.
If you do fall victim to a scam, please report it to law enforcement.
