Sextortion

[readerc54]

Doesn't take much imagination to figure out how this scam could be used in a different context.

Excerpt from article: The women that victims see stripping on screen are those in pre-recorded clips down­loaded from pornographic websites, while the people behind the keyboards are usually young men – often transsexuals – working in gangs.


From South China Morning Post

It was a quiet Tuesday after­noon at the Sha Tin office of an international courier company when John, a 26-year-old customer-service supervisor, received an enticing Facebook message from a woman calling herself Samantha Cheng.

After introducing herself, the woman asked John (not his real name) to switch to Skype and then invited him to go somewhere private for a video chat.

“I’ve got something to show you,” she promised.

“I went to the male toilet in the office and started video chatting with Samantha,” John later recalled in a police statement. “During the video chat I saw a female aged 20 to 25 with long hair and pale skin take off her dress in front of the camera.”

Cheng then asked John to return the favour by performing a sex act on himself while she watched.

“I did so,” he told police. “Then I logged off Skype and went back to my work.”

Two hours later, his nightmare began. John received a Skype message from Cheng telling him she had recorded his performance and posted it on YouTube. She sent him the link to the video and told him she would share it with his family and friends on Facebook unless he sent US$3,000 to a Western Union account in the Philippines. If he followed her instructions, she would delete the video.

Panic-stricken, John rushed to the nearest Western Union office after work only to find it closed. After a sleepless night, he stopped there on his way to the office and sent HK$23,000 to one Socorro Rafol in the Philippines. He e-mailed his Western Union receipt to Cheng, who acknowledged it. Rather than delete the video, however, she left it on YouTube. Two hours later, she demanded more money and John sent a further HK$20,000 to another person, Helenita Tienzo.

The demands for money continued. At 4pm on the same day, he sent a further HK$7,000 to a third person from another Western Union branch. The following morning shortly before 10am, he sent another HK$20,000 after Cheng promised to delete the video clip upon receipt of the money. By now, John had paid out HK$70,000 in less than 48 hours after first encountering Cheng.

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-maga ... philippine

[thaiworthy]

This is a story everyone needs to read. The Philippines is predominantly Catholic. It fires my temperament ablaze when I read of hypocrisy on the part of this woman, who claims compassion for her victims, then repeats the crime again and again. With no moral conscience whatsoever, this quote is what I find so tacit about religious faith.

Breaking down in tears, Caparas – who claims to be deeply religious and was wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan “In the Happy Moments, Praise God, In the Difficult Moments, Seek God” at the time of her arrest in September – says, “Look at where I am now. I have to sleep in the hallway at night. I’m praying to Jesus to let me be with my kids again. I ask for forgiveness. I love my children and I have put them to shame. I have promised them I will give up cybercrime and stay at home and run my shop.

Facebook can be a breeding ground for this kind of cybercrime. I know of some members of this Board who will have nothing to do with it. Understood. But the victims seemed foolish. I can't imagine how anyone could be led to debasing themselves so readily. I would love to read the script these chatters followed as it might leave a clue to how this happens. It could help as a warning.

Despite that, in a way this reminds me of the days when gay people were blackmailed, some as in this story, a 17-yr old who commits suicide. It hits a nerve. Gay people stayed in the closet for many years over fear of just this very thing. While it is bothersome to think of how a man can leave his desk to go to the toilet and wank off to his cell phone, this must happen a lot. This behavior distinguishes it very much from blackmail over sexual orientation, but I can't help but feel sympathy for the victims.

The arrest of the featured cybercriminal appears to have placed her in jail, for the moment. Either Jesus or money will rescue her again. I suspect the latter.

[Gaybutton]

While that kind of scam is deplorable, I'm not afraid of it. First, once Facebook becomes aware of it, they are very good at immediately deleting accounts that do this kind of thing. I hope anyone who tries to blackmail people are quickly tracked down and arrested.

Some of you may remember when about 10 years or so ago, some idiot tried to blackmail me! That was when I used to let Hedda (whatever happened to Hedda?) have a separate forum on my board. This guy hated Hedda and he tried to force me to delete the Hedda forum or else. I called his bluff. As soon as I did, he vanished.

Second, I'd tell her to go right ahead and post it. If anyone actually wants to see a video of me, of all people, masturbating, I'll be happy for them to know at my age I still can. If anyone wants to see the real thing, I'll sell tickets . . .

[Captain Kirk]

I'm with GB. Simply wouldn't work as I'd send them a "LOL, do what you like with it". Even if it bothered me I'd assume that if I give them money they'd just keep asking for more. Seems I'd have been correct.

[readerc54]

I'm sure most would not fall for it but an alarming number of gay men do. This NY Times article cites Grindr as one of the dating sites that has been. used. Excerpt from story that many may find has a familiar ring: “They have a canny ability to mirror what the victim seems to need and to create a sense of intimacy very quickly,” said Debbie Deem, a victim specialist at the F.B.I.’s Los Angeles bureau. “They are able to manipulate the victim into believing they have found their one true soul mate.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/sund ... scams.html

This article from the Times of India described scams targeting gay men using Planet Romeo, Facebook, Grindr and Whatsapp.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 677592.cms

[thaiworthy]

. . . once Facebook becomes aware of it, they are very good at immediately deleting accounts that do this kind of thing. I hope anyone who tries to blackmail people are quickly tracked down and arrested.

When I clicked the NY Times story above, I saw an invitation from Facebook with the following blurb:

Have You Been Scammed?
Have you been targeted on a dating site or app? If so, how did it unfold and how did you find out? Share your story in the comments with this article or on Facebook. Please avoid descriptions that could identify an individual or site. We may highlight your response in a follow-up article.

Indeed! Interesting.

[Smiles]

" ... It fires my temperament ablaze when I read of hypocrisy ... "

But please ... make sure those cute little white rabbits are protected from your line of fire. I can just see page 2 of The Bangkok Post tomorrow morning.

[Jun]

Some people just don't think though the consequences.

Firstly, I'm not making the mistake of being on Facebook. Why give away your ID like that ?

Secondly, if anyone ever did get caught like this, why do they think the extortion would stop after 1 payment ? The only way forward is, as advised earlier, to say go right ahead.

To be honest, I do question the motives of some of the people on the gay apps (non-Thais it must be said).
After chatting for a while, they start asking for c*ck picks. Why exactly ?
Would seeing the pic of some middle aged guy be any more attractive than all of the porn already on the net ?
Even if it's some cute 20 year old Chinese guy, I'm not interested in his c*ck pics. [Perhaps a studio quality full body pic.....]

Anyway, that's where I end the conversation.

[readerc54]

Some people just don't think though the consequences.

An apt observation that's applies not only in this discussion but in another recent thread that prompted much debate.