How To Avoid Sextortion and Stay Safe

Scammers are always looking for new ways to steal money, and thanks to the Internet, they can do it from anywhere. One category that is growing in the extortion realm is romance scams. 

A romance scam is an umbrella category that covers all instances of a false relationship to take money from victims. These scams utilize tactics like catfishing and extortion to blackmail their victims into succumbing to their demands.

With the recent growth in the use of dating apps and social media, romance scams have become a prevalent issue. It’s estimated that 10% of all dating profiles on easier-to-access or free apps are, in fact, fake accounts. 

Because these apps are online, scammers from anywhere in the world can use these platforms to perform their scams. This makes the world of online dating a potential safety concern.

What Is Sextortion?

Sextortion is the term used to describe a hybrid of blackmail and catfishing. An extortionist will create a profile on something like a dating app using stolen images. This profile will serve as a way of finding victims that they can prey on. 

Sextortionists will use their attractive fake profile and flattery to disarm their victim, convincing them to move the conversation to a different platform. Using a different platform is another added layer of protection for a scammer. 

This can be a messaging app like WhatsApp or Telegram or a social media type platform like Snapchat. Once communication has started on a new platform, the conversation will turn sexual. 

The scammer will provide sexual content and ask their victim to send images, videos, or text of their own. Through screenshots and screen recordings, these messages that are intended to be private can now be shared.

A scammer will do their due diligence to find out as much as they can about their victim. Through their name, details in a dating or social media profile, and the use of a messaging platform, they can assemble a profile on their victim. Finding someone’s true identity from these public apps and sites means that a scammer now has the information they need to begin their blackmailing.

The sextortionist will threaten to release the content the victim provided to their family, friends, or place of work. They will demand money or that their victim perform more sexual acts to keep quiet. Even if the victim pays or cooperates, the scamming may not end there. Scammers often request further payments once they know their victim is compliant.

How Can I Protect Myself From Sextortion?

While most sextortionists do not make good on their threats, it’s an unpleasant event to experience a betrayal of trust. The main reason a sextortionist will not publish their victim’s sexual content is that they lose their chance to make money. 

By following through with their threat, they’ve lost the ability to steal your money. They will also likely not publish the content because it could draw even more attention to themselves. This could mean their victim may be more likely to seek legal action now that they’ve been violated.

One of the biggest steps you and your loved ones can take to protect themselves from any threat of attack is to tighten privacy settings. This is a good step across the board and can aid with any online threats. 

Set public profiles to private and set your sharing to be as limited as possible. Even with social media and dating accounts tightly secured, don’t share any information you wouldn’t want the general public to know. Just because you’ve marked yourself private doesn’t mean that what you share can’t be recorded or saved by other users.

If you or someone you know is exploring the dating world through an app, there are lots of things you can do to be proactive. On dating apps, don’t share sensitive or too much personal information. 

When talking to someone on an app, be careful about how much personal information you provide. Don’t engage in sexual conversations with someone you’ve never met in person. Don’t move your conversation to a new, harder-to-verify app or messaging platform. 

A request to go talk on WhatsApp can be a red flag because the perpetrator doesn’t live in your country and needs to hide their true identity. Some sextortionists will use social media apps to stalk victims and prey on those who are unsuspecting. 

Elderly people on Facebook have become a common target for scammers. They rely on the vulnerabilities of those who may not be as technologically versed and likely to engage a stranger. Users can be exploited by fake profiles, suspicious links, flattery, and offers of companionship to steal money from their victims.

Getting Help

If you or someone you know has been a victim of a romance scam like sextortion, there are actions you can take. The tactics employed by scammers can be complex and increasingly convincing. 

Platforms struggle to keep up with these issues, and even with some safeguards in place, the scammers find ways around them. If a scammer has successfully exploited someone, the FBI can help. If a minor has been exploited, the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) is a great resource to contact.

At Digital Forensics, we can help you or your loved one take back control of this unfortunate situation. Our dedicated helpline for victims of sextortion is available 24/7 and we’ll get to work within 24 hours. 

Our team of social engineering experts, digital forensics engineers, and lawyers trained to combat cybercrime will work to secure your data and prevent the leak of sensitive material. Through our proprietary tools, we can track down the digital footprints of wrongdoers. 

We can help locate and identify these criminals to ensure their efforts aren’t successful. We’ll bring them to justice and ensure your security by giving you the tools to secure your accounts and protect your private information.

Sources:

As Dating App Usage Increases, Bumble and Tinder Compete for Americans Seeking Love on Demand | Civic Science

1 in 10 online dating profiles is fake: See the most common characteristics of fraudsters | NY Daily News

FBI Warns of Online Dating Scams | FBI

Sextortion | NCMEC