Someone Threatening to Send My Friends and Family Intimate Video Chat
T he dating game is full of the unexpected: information technology can apace become credible that photographs might have been in rotation for a few years or that someone listing their height as 5ft 10in could only accomplish that elevation on tiptoes. But while those deceits may exist forgivable if y'all hitting it off with your date, at the other end of the spectrum are far worse cons.
In 2020, with more of the states stuck at home, often desperate for some company or conversation, the number of romance scams reported to the criminal offence body Action Fraud rose by 15%. Over the past 18 months information technology has received reports of more than than 7,000 cases, with losses totalling £69.7m – an average of near £10,000 a victim.
Romance scammers create what appears to be a 18-carat relationship that tin become on for weeks or months. Once trust has been congenital, the fraudster will then enquire for what are often large sums of money.
Another fashion that criminals excerpt coin from unwitting daters is through sextortion scams. These involve acquiring intimate photos or videos of an individual, "nudes", and using these to blackmail the victim. The National Offense Agency (NCA) says reports of sextortion scams soared in 2020, from 1,607 reports in 2019 to 2,881. In 2015, the number of cases reported was simply 345.
The NCA says victims are often initially contacted through social media and dating websites. "Sadly, this a serious and organised crime that preys upon people's emotions and vulnerability. While both men and women can be victims, our evidence suggests that men anile between xix and 35 are predominately targets," an NCA spokesperson says.
"The majority of sextortion crimes tin be traced back to organised crime groups, more often than not based overseas. For them, it'southward a depression-adventure and easy way to brand money but for victims, the touch and repercussions can be long-lasting. We know of at least four contempo incidents in the Britain where young men who were targeted saw no other fashion out than to have their own life."
Dating apps are a common place for scammers to find their victims, with Action Fraud reporting that the elevation v platforms they utilize are Facebook, Plenty of Fish, Instagram, Tinder and Match.com.
In late 2020 the Match Grouping, which owns Plenty of Fish, Tinder, Match.com also every bit OkCupid, ran a serial of romance fraud protection adverts equally part of a campaign with Action Fraud.
Justine Sacco from the Match Grouping told Guardian Money that the company had a defended team and "sophisticated engineering" that patrols for spam and fraud including automatic or transmission reviews of each member profile to block IP addresses from high-alert countries, identify stolen credit card numbers and detect suspicious language in profiles.
"The Match Group brands instruct users to never transport money to someone they met on our platforms, and to report any individual who asks that they do," she says. "These steps are designed to stop scams in their tracks and help protect the side by side potential victim."
Ryan Chen (not his real name), 23, was a user of the Chinese-owned dating app Tantan. He matched with a woman who appeared to live in Manchester, like him. She was about his age and attractive, so when she asked Chen for his Facebook and WeChat details, he happily shared them.
She asked to exchange "nudes" and, later on receiving a video, Chen obliged, sending her a video in return. She didn't respond for a few hours. He was then met with an unexpected response.
"She sent me a list of all my Facebook friends that she had downloaded somehow and she had worked out who my cousins were," he says. "She wanted me to send her $four,000 to a Western Union account in the Philippines or she would ship all my Facebook friends the video."
Afterward reading nearly other cases where victims had feared losing their jobs and families, he says he realised "worse example for me was just lots of people seeing my nudes. I institute some advice on the National Crime Agency website and followed that. I was up all night panicking only that calmed me down."
Chen contacted the police just was not able to provide much information about the culprit. He also contacted his cousins to warn them that they might receive a bulletin from the scammer.
Later on iii months of letters repeating the threat, he chosen her bluff and told her to go through with information technology. "That was the last fourth dimension I heard from her."
The National Offense Agency told Guardian Money information technology has a strategy in identify to bargain with these kind of crimes. "Sextortion is a borderless crime, and and so demands a transnational, joined-upwardly response," it says. "The National Crime Agency is in constant dialogue with international police enforcement partners on how best to tackle the issue, protect victims and concur perpetrators to account.
"During the past year we've seen increased reporting by members of the public to U.k. constabulary forces, with suggestions that this is due to increased confidence in the constabulary to deal with allegations in a sensitive and confidential manner."
The National Crime Bureau has the following advice for anyone who has been contacted past someone threatening to distribute pictures or videos that they take shared:
Don't panic: the first big step is to recognise yous are the victim in this and that y'all may crave support to assistance you through what has happened.
Don't pay: the choice to pay is yours but experience shows that where victims have paid up, at that place is no guarantee that offenders will not nevertheless post the recording. They are, in fact, more likely to come back with farther demands.
Don't go on communicating: by replying to these threats, it indicates to the criminals that you are someone who may be persuaded to pay their ransom.
Do consider getting back up: you lot can contact your local constabulary force (101) to report what has happened to you. This is particularly important if you lot are struggling to cope with the problem. If you are under xviii, consider speaking to a trusted adult, and additional support is likewise available via Kid Exploitation and Online Protection control.
In the United kingdom and Republic of ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the United states of america, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Commonwealth of australia, the crunch support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines tin can be found at www.befrienders.org.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/apr/24/she-wanted-4000-post-video-dating-scams-social-media-apps
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