A reader in Louisiana forwarded Fox News's CyberGuy a sextortion email claiming to come from the ShinyHunters hacking group, demanding $2,000 in Litecoin within 48 hours and threatening to release supposed intimate footage recorded via his device's camera. The recipient, Wayne P., grew suspicious, ran security scans that found no compromise, reported the email as phishing, and was confirmed correct: the message is part of a wider scam campaign that borrows genuine data from a Carnival breach to make fabricated device-takeover claims appear credible.

The scam follows a familiar sextortion template, pairing real leaked personal details with false hacking claims, a cryptocurrency payment demand and a tight deadline designed to pressure victims into paying before they can verify the threat. CyberGuy's advice for recipients of similar emails is to avoid panicking or paying, run device security scans, report the message via phishing-reporting channels, and treat any unsolicited extortion demand referencing breach data with scepticism rather than as proof of an actual hack.