Sextortion is an internet scam used by cybercriminals to obtain intimate images or footage from their victims. The scammers then use this content to blackmail their victims into giving them money. Read on to learn what you should do if you are blackmailed. Also discover how Avira Prime can help protect you from this type of scam.
What is sextortion?
Sextortion is a portmanteau coined from the words “sex” and “extortion”. It refers to an internet scam where cybercriminals pose as a sort of catfish behind profiles of attractive people. They use these profiles to contact other internet users, and it all usually starts with harmless flirting.
But soon the perpetrators ask their victims to send compromising photos such as nude pics or footage of the victim performing sexual acts. The scammers then use this content to blackmail money out of the victim by threatening to publish the recordings or forward them to other social media contacts. Sextortion can take place on various platforms – from Facebook and Instagram to Snapchat and WhatsApp.
Types of internet blackmail using compromising content
There are two main forms of sextortion: Real sextortion — the traditional variant — and fake sextortion. In the following, we dive into the characteristics of each type and how they differ.
Real sextortion
Here, scammers contact their potential victim on a social platform such as Facebook or Instagram. After a short period of getting to know each other, they signal sexual interest. To gain the trust of the person concerned, they take the first step and send nude photos. In return, they also ask the victim to send images or footage with intimate content.
Cybercriminals also encourage victims to appear naked in video chats, performing sexual acts on themselves. The perpetrators record these video chats without the victim’s knowledge, and they’re later asked to pay money to prevent the compromising content from being published on social media or the internet. In doing so, the victim’s fear and shame act as a means of pressure.
Fake sextortion
The approach in terms of fake sextortion differs from the real variant. In this case, several people are contacted at the same time — without the scammers having previously bonded with their potential victims. They send empty threats as spam, claiming to have intimate images or footage of the person in question.
Among the recipients, the aim is to hit any who feel intimidated by the threat because they’ve actually recently visited a porn website, for example. Due to the fear of being exposed in front of friends, acquaintances, or employers, victims of fake sextortion often pay up even though the perpetrators don’t actually have any explicit recordings of them.
What does sextortion look like on the internet?
From blackmail via social networks to scam emails, sextortion can take many forms. Here are the most common scenarios and their consequences.
Porn blackmailers: A classic scam via email
A common scenario in sextortion: Victims receive an email claiming that they were recorded while pleasuring themselves while visiting a porn website. The victim is asked to pay — preferably in a cryptocurrency — to prevent the publication of the supposedly compromising content. But cybercriminals go even further…
- Passwords: To increase their credibility, scammers include the recipient’s password in the email. This entices sextortion victims to take the threat seriously and pay up. However, cybercriminals usually obtained the email address and password from a data breach and didn’t actually observe the victim on a porn site and film them consuming the content.
- Account access: Another trick is to make the victim believe that the scammer has gained access to their accounts, such as their private email inbox. Cybercriminals send emails to the affected person that appear to come from their own email account. This is intended to prove that this and other services used by the victim are now in the hands of the scammers. In this case too, the data probably comes from a data breach and the hackers don’t have actual access.
- Ransomware: As with other blackmail emails, the victim is tricked into believing that the perpetrators have compromising video footage. In addition to the email address and password, they provide other publicly available information, such as their spouse’s name. This adds further weight to the email. As supposed proof that the victim was filmed, the scammers include a link to the allegedly recorded video in the email. However, lying in wait behind this link are typically ransomware or Trojans.
If you ever receive a sextortion email — whether it’s demanding payment or includes supposed video evidence — never give in to the scammers’ demands for payment or click any links. If you do click a link, it’ll infect your computer and allow cybercriminals to access your device. Perpetrators can also hack your webcam to access your device’s camera. In addition to porn blackmail, there are other forms of sextortion that are even more sophisticated and increase pressure on the victim.
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Blackmail with images and footage via social media
Whereas porn blackmail typically involves fake sextortion, in the case of social media blackmail, scammers gain actual access to their victims’ intimate content via social networks or messaging services. After a brief getting-to-know-you phase, scammers soon encourage their victims to send nude images or footage of themselves engaging in sexual acts.
However, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), cybercriminals are finding it increasingly easy to manipulate nude images and footage of sexual acts without the victim ever sending any intimate content. Instead, the scammers alter harmless images of the victim, such as their profile picture, and insert images of sexual acts.
Regardless of whether the recordings are real or fake: Shortly after contact is made, blackmail usually begins with the images or footage, and the victim is asked to pay up to prevent publication. In most cases, though, one payment is not enough, and it’s usually followed by further demands. As such, the golden rule is: Never pay money but take legal action immediately.
What are the consequences of blackmail for victims?
For the victims, sextortion is an extremely stressful experience. The scammers often exert considerable pressure, which can cause the victim to suffer emotional stress, anxiety, or even depression. It can even often result in significant financial loss, with cybercriminals demanding vast sums so the content never sees the light of day. If the recordings are actually made public, this can also affect the victim’s social and professional life.
What can you do if you’re being blackmailed with photos or footage?
If all that hot flirting on a dating platform, Instagram, or Facebook turns out to be sextortion, the first thing to do is to remain calm. If compromising images or footage of you have already been published, take the following steps.
- Contact the site operator: Report the incident to the site operator and have the images or footage deleted. As a rule, you can report inappropriate content to the website operator using buttons provided for this purpose.
- Break off contact: As soon as your contact reveals themselves to be a scammer, for example because you receive demands for payment, break off all contact immediately and stop responding to messages.
- Back up your chat histories: For evidence, you should also save the entire chat history using screenshots.
The police advise against paying any money whatsoever, because the blackmailing doesn’t stop after the first payment. Instead, you should file a criminal complaint with the local police. After all, blackmail and therefore sextortion too are criminal offenses.
How might sextortion be punished under the law
The criminal offense can be interpreted differently depending on the extent and circumstances. In most cases, it concerns blackmail. You should check out what rights you have depending on where you live, but as an example let’s take a look at how German law deals with the situation. According to section 253 of the German Criminal Code (StGB), sextortion is punishable as extortion. The offense is punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine. Other possible criminal offenses:
- Sexual abuse: Especially when minors become victims of sextortion, the act can also be considered sexual abuse of children. The relevant paragraphs in the German Criminal Code are sections 176a, which describes the sexual abuse of children without physical contact with the child, and 176b, which describes preparing sexual abuse of children. Abuse is punishable by imprisonment from six months to up to ten years. Grooming may result in imprisonment for three months to five years.
- Sexual assault: The law can also interpret sextortion as sexual assault or sexual coercion. This is because sexual acts are deemed to have taken place against the recognizable will of a person by publishing the content. According to section 177 of the German Criminal Code, this is punishable by a prison sentence of between six months and five years.
- Violation of intimacy: One possible criminal offense of sextortion is the violation of intimacy through the taking of pictures. This is because images of another person’s genitals or other intimate body parts are shared intentionally. This can result in a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine.
Victims of sextortion need help — especially when minors are blackmailed owing to the significant emotional strain they suffer. Therefore, if you are affected, involve someone you trust to break the cycle of shame. If your child comes to you with this problem, you should react with understanding and not punish them for putting themselves in this situation. It is a sign of trust that your child has turned to you.
Steps you can take against internet blackmail
To improve your protection against becoming a victim of sextortion, always remain suspicious of strangers on the internet. If you receive friend requests on social platforms from people you don’t know, it’s best to ignore them. If you’re in contact with strangers, never send nude pictures or expose yourself in front of the camera. Here are some further tips:
- Use strong passwords: Use strong and unique passwords for each of your accounts. If you notice anything suspicious about your account, change your password immediately.
- Use two-factor authentication (2FA): Two-factor authentication can minimize the risk of someone gaining unauthorized access to your private accounts.
- Surf vigilantly: Stay alert while surfing and never open suspicious email links or attachments. Also, be careful when dealing with people who are quick to send intimate pictures and ask you to send some in return.
- Protect your camera: Also set up camera protection for your smartphone or for your webcam on your PC. This will prevent unauthorized persons from snooping on you without your knowledge.
In addition to these preventative steps, you should also strengthen your device’s defenses with an antivirus solution. Avira Prime detects malware and other online threats in real time. You can also surf more anonymously because the solution encrypts your data traffic. You can also use it to generate and save super-secure passwords.
