“David” a 32-year-old pharmacy technician who fell for a sextortion scam, in Manhattan on Feb. 8, 2024. Young men are being coerced into sending naked pictures to scammers pretending to be women — who then demand money. The consequences can be devastating. David didn’t know anyone named Chelsea, but he clicked through her profile: She had brown hair and a nice smile; under her name was a quote from the Bible.
But cybercrime agencies caution not to be deceived by the seemingly small stakes. Many victims caught in this scam are minors — of the 13,000 reports of financial sextortion the FBI received between October 2021 to March 2023, a vast majority of them involved boys. And though David’s dealings with “Chelsea” cost him $750 , the consequences for young boys can be devastating.
He learned how they typically work. First, a scammer located in, say, the Ivory Coast, will create an attractive female avatar. To find targets, he may trawl a high school football team’s social media account and “friend” all the players; those who accept the friend request are sent flirtatious messages.
From 2022 to 2023, about 2,300 sextortion cases came into C3, Prado said; since October 2023, there have been 8,000. But even that notable jump is most likely an undercount, he said, because of the shame many victims feel. As an example of the potential scope: Last year, the parent company of Snapchat conducted a survey of over 1,000 teenagers and young adults that found nearly half had been recently approached sexually across different social media by strangers.
But in most instances, Homeland Security’s investigation begins and ends in the center in Fairfax. While there have been some arrests made abroad, the United States has no formal extradition agreement with many of the countries where the scammers are. The Ivory Coast, which analysts at the Cyber Crime Center have located as the primary location of financial sextortion cases, has no such agreement.
Others want to hold tech accountable not for future incidents but for past negligence: Brandon Guffey’s teenage son, Gavin, killed himself in 2022 after falling prey to a sextortion scam. In January, Guffey, a South Carolina state representative, sued Meta for what he claims is the tech company’s failure to provide adequate child protections.
This is the tack the Department of Homeland Security is taking. In April it announced a nationwide rollout of awareness campaigns that will include signs at Major League Baseball games and NASCAR rallies, as well as partnerships with groups like the Boy Scouts of America. Special agents will visit schools to inform teenagers of the crime and how to avoid falling victim.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: latimes - 🏆 11. / 82 Read more »
Source: espn - 🏆 731. / 51 Read more »
Source: BreitbartNews - 🏆 610. / 51 Read more »
Source: usweekly - 🏆 390. / 55 Read more »
Source: espn - 🏆 731. / 51 Read more »
Source: bbchealth - 🏆 143. / 63 Read more »