Is an email saying I was caught viewing adult content and must pay to prevent the video being shared a scam?

Sextortion emails are sent in enormous volumes to addresses harvested from data breaches. They typically include a password that you once used — found in the breach data — as 'proof' that your computer was compromised. The email claims that malware was installed during your browsing, that your webcam was activated, and that the sender captured footage of you viewing adult content.

You are given a deadline, typically 24 to 72 hours, to pay a specified amount in Bitcoin to prevent the video being sent to your contacts. The email often includes your real name, location, or part of a password to lend credibility.

In the vast majority of cases there is no video. The sender has your email address and an old password from a breach database, and that is the entirety of their leverage. The technique is a bluff applied at industrial scale — millions of emails are sent because even a tiny response rate generates significant revenue.

If you recognise the password mentioned, it is worth changing that password anywhere you still use it, and enabling two-factor authentication. But paying has no benefit — it marks you as someone who pays, and further demands will follow.