The World Opinion

Tag: sextortion

  • Naked-Chat Blackmail: 55 Men, 4 Women Fell Prey To Video Chat Scam, Made To Pay Rs 2 Cr As Sextortion; Caution For Indians |

    New Delhi: Around 59 people in Hong Kong, four of whom were women, were deceived into paying over HK$1.9 million (about Rs 2 crore) in just one week after they were forced to go nude during video conversations.

    The South China Morning Post (SCMP) said that the police released the numbers on its Facebook page on Friday, cautioning locals to exercise caution when meeting persons online.

    To trick women on social media, the scammers have also been masquerading as “highly educated, high-income and physically attractive” men. The Hong Kong police claimed that the perpetrators “use sweet talk to learn about the victims’ personal lives and interests to manipulate them.” It was further said, “In the past week, police received 59 cases of naked-chat blackmail, with scammers extorting more than HK$1.9 million. Four cases involved female victims.”

    Additionally, the police disclosed that a 5th of the 1,102 victims of “naked-chat blackmail” were students. The scammers coerced the victims into paying over HK$31 million(about Rs 34 crore). According to SCMP, several of the students were around 11 years old.

    Cases of naked-chat blackmail or sextortion in India Several instances of sextortion or naked chat blackmail have also been documented in India. People were cautioned by the Kerala police earlier this year about honey traps and not to answer video calls from strangers or unknown numbers. In 2022, a Bengaluru man had to pay Rs 5 lakh to fraudsters after he was tricked into becoming nude on a video chat. In 2023, two men were detained in Rajasthan for tricking a person from Vadodara into making a naked WhatsApp chat and demanding Rs 3.33 lakh from him.

    What is Sextortion? Sextortion is a type of cyber abuse in which a cybercriminal uses social media platforms, instant messaging apps, SMS, online dating apps, porn sites, and other channels to entice victims into private video/audio chats where they are forced to pose nude or provide explicit pictures. These materials are eventually used by the fraudsters to blackmail the victims. Both male and female victims may fall prey to these kinds of frauds.

    Tips to protect against online sextortion * Never accept video calls or open attachments from strangers. * Keeping your personal photos, videos, and posts private is advisable. * It is always advisable to decline friendship requests from strangers on social media. * Do not click on intimate, nude, or semi-nude pictures and videos. * Enable privacy and security settings on social media accounts. * File a sextortion complaint with the cybercrime cell.

  • CBI busts ‘sextortion’ racket, arrests one for blackmailing US-based Economics prof

    By way of PTI

    NEW DELHI: The CBI has busted a racket of “sextortionists”, arresting one that allegedly blackmailed an economics professor at California College into meting out USD 48,000 threatening him with making public his sexually particular video chats with a feminine gang member, officers stated.

    According to data gained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the USA, CBI arrested Rahul Kumar, a resident of Delhi’s Asola, whilst the seek for his purported female friend who lured the professor into sending particular movies on Fb chat is occurring, they stated.

    The lady, who was once chatting thru Fb, had befriended the economics professor of a distinguished college on social media provider chat platform, they stated.

    In conspiracy along with her purported spouse Rahul Kumar, she diverted conversations in opposition to sexual connotations, in the end asking the professor to file and ship his sexually particular video on September 10, 2021, they stated.

    As soon as a video was once gained, she instructed the professor that her boyfriend Rahul had recorded the video, they stated.

    The duo began blackmailing the US-based professor with threats to make ship the video to government within the college and a few distinguished US-based reporters, they stated.

    “Rahul, the usage of his accounts [email protected] and [email protected], began sending extortionist threats associated with the sexually particular video chat to the professor hard cash and different treasured issues from him for deleting the video and directed him to make the financial bills to his PayPal account,” the CBI FIR has alleged.

    The alleged blackmail went on for over a 12 months, all the way through which repeated cash transfers came about within the Paypal account of Rahul, as directed through him.

    Over USD 48,000 (roughly Rs 38 lakh) was once gained from the sufferer, they stated.

    Kumar later requested the professor for expensive presents comparable to Apple iPhone chargers and headsets, following which the professor filed a grievance with the USA Division of Justice, which passed over the topic to the FBI, they stated.

    The FBI were given involved with the CBI the place Global Operation Department registered a case, tracked the individual and arrested Rahul whilst the seek for his purported female friend is occurring, they stated.

    “A case was once registered through Global Operation Department of CBI towards a non-public individual resident of New Delhi & Others on positive allegations together with sextortion of a Professor at a distinguished College in america at the inputs gained from america,” CBI stated in a observation.

    NEW DELHI: The CBI has busted a racket of “sextortionists”, arresting one that allegedly blackmailed an economics professor at California College into meting out USD 48,000 threatening him with making public his sexually particular video chats with a feminine gang member, officers stated.

    According to data gained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the USA, CBI arrested Rahul Kumar, a resident of Delhi’s Asola, whilst the seek for his purported female friend who lured the professor into sending particular movies on Fb chat is occurring, they stated.

    The lady, who was once chatting thru Fb, had befriended the economics professor of a distinguished college on social media provider chat platform, they stated.

    In conspiracy along with her purported spouse Rahul Kumar, she diverted conversations in opposition to sexual connotations, in the end asking the professor to file and ship his sexually particular video on September 10, 2021, they stated.

    As soon as a video was once gained, she instructed the professor that her boyfriend Rahul had recorded the video, they stated.

    The duo began blackmailing the US-based professor with threats to make ship the video to government within the college and a few distinguished US-based reporters, they stated.

    “Rahul, the usage of his accounts [email protected] and [email protected], began sending extortionist threats associated with the sexually particular video chat to the professor hard cash and different treasured issues from him for deleting the video and directed him to make the financial bills to his PayPal account,” the CBI FIR has alleged.

    The alleged blackmail went on for over a 12 months, all the way through which repeated cash transfers came about within the Paypal account of Rahul, as directed through him.

    Over USD 48,000 (roughly Rs 38 lakh) was once gained from the sufferer, they stated.

    Kumar later requested the professor for expensive presents comparable to Apple iPhone chargers and headsets, following which the professor filed a grievance with the USA Division of Justice, which passed over the topic to the FBI, they stated.

    The FBI were given involved with the CBI the place Global Operation Department registered a case, tracked the individual and arrested Rahul whilst the seek for his purported female friend is occurring, they stated.

    “A case was once registered through Global Operation Department of CBI towards a non-public individual resident of New Delhi & Others on positive allegations together with sextortion of a Professor at a distinguished College in america at the inputs gained from america,” CBI stated in a observation.

  • Circle of relatives Problems Caution After Youngster Focused In Sextortion Scheme Dies Via Suicide

    The circle of relatives of Ryan Closing, a California youngster who took his personal lifestyles inside of hours of falling sufferer to a web based sextortion scheme, is talking out in hopes of serving to others keep away from what federal government warn is a dangerous and rising web rip-off concentrated on younger other folks.

    “We need to get Ryan’s tale in the market in order that no different circle of relatives has to move thru what we’ve got,” Closing’s mom, Pauline Stuart, stated in a video launched previous this month with California’s San Jose Police Division. “We need to train each folks and youngsters in regards to the dangers in the market, and particularly about sending compromising photos to other folks on the web.”

    Stuart stated Closing, 17, used to be a highschool senior, straight-A pupil and Boy Scout who used to be making plans to wait Washington State College. In February, he used to be contacted on-line by means of any person who claimed to be a lady.

    The individual despatched him a nude photograph and requested Closing to ship considered one of himself in go back. Closing did so, and used to be then advised that if he didn’t pay $5,000, the photograph could be made public and despatched to his friends and family.

    Closing stated he didn’t have that a lot cash to present, so the cybercriminal decreased it to $150, an quantity that Closing paid the use of his faculty financial savings, his mom advised CNN. However the individual wasn’t glad.

    “They stored hard increasingly more and hanging a variety of endured force on him,” she stated.

    That night, Closing stated excellent evening to his folks. Inside hours, he had died by means of suicide. In a be aware to his circle of relatives, he expressed his embarrassment in regards to the catch 22 situation he used to be in, his mom stated.

    “He selected to finish his personal lifestyles fairly than have his photos allotted on social media,” Stuart stated within the video. “He believed his popularity could be destroyed, and he used to be terrified what his family and friends would suppose.”

    Stuart inspired folks to speak to their youngsters “so children know they may be able to come to their folks in the event that they’ve made a mistake.”

    The FBI says it has gained more and more stories of kids being centered on-line in such blackmail schemes. In a public alert launched previous this month, the bureau’s San Francisco Department described how the extortion can spread:

    Sextortion starts when an grownup contacts a minor over any on-line platform used to fulfill and be in contact, equivalent to a sport, app, or social media account. In a scheme that has just lately turn into extra prevalent, the predator (posing as a tender lady) makes use of deception and manipulation to persuade a tender male, typically 14 to 17 years outdated, to interact in specific process over video, which is then secretly recorded by means of the predator.

    The predator then finds that they have got made the recordings and makes an attempt to extort the sufferer for cash to stop them from being posted on-line. Lots of the topics are in another country and can frequently call for cash in expanding quantities if any is shipped throughout the preliminary request.

    “We need to get Ryan’s tale in the market in order that no different circle of relatives has to move thru what we’ve got.”

    – Pauline Stuart, Ryan Closing’s mom

    “To stop endured victimization, it’s crucial youngsters come ahead to any person ― a guardian, instructor, caregiver, or legislation enforcement,” the FBI stated within the public alert. “Youngsters would possibly really feel a way of embarrassment from the sort of aggravating enjoy. Alternatively, sextortion offenders could have masses of sufferers international, so coming ahead to assist legislation enforcement determine, and in the long run apprehend suspects, would possibly save you further incidents of sexual exploitation from going on.”

    The FBI urges sufferers of such crimes to touch their native FBI box place of business, name 1-800-CALL-FBI, or record it on-line at guidelines.fbi.gov.

    “Our brokers see those circumstances so much and feature helped hundreds of younger other folks. Our objectives are to prevent the harassment, arrest the individual at the back of the crime, and let you get the strengthen you want,” the company stated. “When you’re now not feeling in a position to talk to the FBI, move to some other relied on grownup. Say you might be being victimized on-line and wish assist. Speaking about this may really feel not possible, however there are individuals who can assist. You don’t seem to be the only in hassle.”

    When you or any person you understand wishes assist, name 1-800-273-8255 for the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You’ll be able to additionally textual content HOME to 741-741 totally free, 24-hour strengthen from the Disaster Textual content Line. Out of doors of the U.S., please discuss with the Global Affiliation for Suicide Prevention for a database of assets.