Security News > 2022 > February > French speakers blasted by sextortion scams with no text or links
Over the last year or two we've noticed that the steady stream of sextortion emails we used to receive - at one time, we were getting several variants on the theme each week - has dwindled to almost nothing.
Often, attackers stick to messages in plain text or HTML for the obvious reason that web or email links in those messages typically turn into directly tempting "Calls to action".
Web URLs inside emails are often automatically made clickable, and embedded email addresses can usually be replied to directly, or copied semi-automatically into your address book or the To: field of a new message.
We suspect that most or all Naked Security readers will discard emails of this sort without further thought.
How likely does the message really seem? The sender of this email was given as Jean-Luc Godard, who in real life is a world-famous left-wing French filmmaker now in his 90s. The investigating officer you are told to email directly is Frédéric Veaux, the Director General of the French Police.
Many sites, of which Naked Security is just one, make an effort to write up scams like this in order to show potential victims that they aren't the only ones being "Accused", and thus that the message they received is simply one of many identical spams sent out to stir up fear.