Man, the Bitcoin demand is pretty much the giveaway that it’s bogus. They get your email from data breaches, LinkedIn scrapes, or just buy lists of addresses for pennies. The “personal details” are usually recycled from old hacks—maybe a password you used to use that got leaked years ago.
Don’t pay, don’t respond. Delete and move on. They’re sending thousands of these hoping someone panics.
If you want to report it, forward it to the FBI’s IC3 (ic3.gov) or just your email provider’s spam/phishing option. Could also check haveibeenpwned.com to see where your email leaked from.
Are they ever real? Like 0.001% of the time, maybe? But those aren’t mass emails demanding Bitcoin—they’re targeted attacks on specific people. Your random threatening email? Total bluff. They’re counting on shame keeping you from asking around and realizing everyone gets these.
Change passwords on important accounts if they mentioned one you actually use, turn on two-factor authentication, and you’re good.