Until recently, the main blackmailing tool of cryptocurrency-hungry scammers was sextortion. However, their attention gradually began to switch from individual users to companies, which began to receive threats of reputational harm to their website.

Once more, it’s very straightforward. A request for the transfer of 0.3–0.5 bitcoin (around $4,200) is sent to the company’s public email addresses (or via its online feedback form). In case of refusal, the cybercriminals threaten to send abusive messages supposedly from the victim company through the contact forms of 13 million websites, as well as to mail out aggressive spam in the company’s name to 9 million email addresses. After that, they claim that the Spamhaus Project will recognize the victim’s website as a source of spam and block it forever.