An online flirtation was fatal for a 43-year-old from Ostallgäu. Police warn of “sex pressers”.
On Monday evening, a 43-year-old man from Ostallgäu reported blackmail to the Füssen police. The man had spoken to an unknown woman via a chat on social media in the previous days. This conversation led to a video chat in which both of them exposed themselves in front of the camera. After a short while, the stranger suddenly ended the conversation. The 43-year-old was then threatened with sending the recorded video to all his friends. However, he could avert this by paying 500 euros. Because the man didn't know what else to do, he transferred the money to the blackmailers. Now he filed a police report. The Füssen police have started the investigation.
The number of cases is increasing sharply
This procedure represents a repeated scam called “sextortion” that occurs throughout Germany. This term is made up of the English words sex and extortion – blackmail.
In Swabia South/West, around 200 cases were reported in 2021, in which primarily men were harmed with this scam. In 2020 the missing numbers were still in double digits. “Sex pressers” stole more than 70,000 euros in the presidential area in 2021 (2020: around 20,000 euros).
In the Ostallgäu district, five successful cases from the perpetrator's perspective were reported to the police in 2021, resulting in damage amounting to around 2,300 euros. This mesh assumes a large dark field. For many victims, going to the police is associated with a feeling of shame. As a result, it must be assumed that many victims simply pay to avoid exposure through the publication of compromising images.
How does sextortion work?
A harmless flirt turns into real blackmail.
With sextortion, the person affected first gets to know a stranger via a social network such as Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook. The affected person and the stranger communicate with each other. With the aim of convincing the potential victim to undress in front of his webcam and perform sexual acts on himself, the perpetrators quickly switch the communication to a video call. They record these sexual acts and then threaten to publish this video or image on the Internet if the requested amount of money is not paid. In another variant of sextortion, the perpetrators send their victims a blackmail letter by email in which they claim to have recorded compromising sex videos of their victim and then demand money so that they are not published.
Such emails are often sent en masse as spam emails without a specific target. The phenomenon of “sextortion” mostly affects men, but women can also be affected. Most of the time, the masterminds are organized into gangs, operate from abroad or use so-called bots to distribute their blackmail letters by email.
This is how you can protect yourself from “sexual blackmail”.
- Do not accept friend requests from strangers.
- Check your account and privacy settings regularly.
- Be cautious about publishing personal information such as address, date of birth or employer.
- Don't agree to a video chat too quickly.
- If in doubt: first tape off the chat camera so that you can only communicate verbally and observe what is happening.
- Do not consent to exposure or intimate acts in video chats if you have only known the person for a short time.
- Always keep the operating and virus protection systems on your online devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets or computers up to date to protect yourself from malicious software, so-called malware. There is malware that easily activates your webcam and can use it to film you at any time.
If you are already being blackmailed
- Do not transfer money. The blackmail usually doesn't stop after the payment.
- Report it to the police.
- Contact the site operator and request that the images be deleted. Inappropriate content can be reported to the site operator using buttons specially set up for this purpose.
- Stop contact with the anonymous person immediately and do not respond to messages.
- Save chat histories and messages using screenshots.
- If it is already too late and you have already made a transfer, contact your credit card provider or bank as quickly as possible. It may still be possible to get the money back. If the money has already been received in the target account, this bank can be contacted.
Further information can be found here:
https://www.polizei-beratung.de/themen-und-tipps/fähren-im-internet/sextortion/
Media contact:
Press office at the Schwaben Süd/West Police Headquarters, D-87439 Kempten (Allgäu),
Telephone number (+49) 0831 9909-0 (-1012/ -1013).
Source: polizei.bayern.de
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