Recently I was sent a blackmail email that contained a password that I used to use in the past and the sender was claiming that they had also gained to my laptop's camera and had recordings of me watching porn or other "embarrassing" stuff. They threatened to send these recordings to my contacts on email and/or facebook etc, unless I paid them $1082 in bitcoins (apparently they read that if you ask for a non-round number you have more chances of getting it :P).

Covering your camera is supposed to protect you from this kind of things, especially for younger ages or for people less technologically inclined.