HOW TO AVOID BEING A VICTIM OF CYBER EXTORTION

Blackmailers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. While some may be bluffing for a cheap kick or dissipate after receiving no payment or being banned, others may strive for actual harm. Whatever the case, if you’re the victim of extortion, you’re not to blame.

Although you can feel powerless, you can take some positive action in the right direction. The steps outlined above have worked for people who have overcome extortion, and they can work for you.

HOW TO REACT TO A THREAT OR BLACKMAILING ATTEMPT

• Alert the authorities to the blackmail you are experiencing.
• Remember that fulfilling the demands of the blackmailer is unlikely to make him or her walk away. On the contrary, it will encourage them.
• Avoid confronting the person (online or off); cut off all communication with them right away.
• Set filters to block their email address on your email account(s).
• Try to prevent them from accessing your list of friends by blocking them from your social media accounts and altering their privacy settings.
• If you think you were the subject of some form of cybersecurity fraud, replace all of your passwords with strong, one-of-a-kind alphanumeric code. If you are in a position where this fraud may be repeated in the future, consider getting cyber insurance.
• Think about opening fresh email accounts. Inform contacts that any messages that they receive from your old accounts should not be opened because you have been hacked, and the emails may contain malicious links.
• Protect all of your machines and devices with passwords.
• Put a sticker over your webcam.
• Perform a name search online or create alerts to inform you of any new developments involving your name.

EXTORTION: A CASE STUDY

These are the actions one victim of blackmail did in response to a sexual encounter the blackmailers claimed to have captured on camera. In the end, the demands made by the blackmailers were not met.

1. She didn’t try to pay them in any way.
2. She deleted her Windows Live Messenger account after blocking them from her contact lists.
3. She disabled her Facebook page and issued a message to her friends explaining that she would be gone for a while due to spam being sent to her account after someone hacked it. She also advised them to delete any mail they received from her right away since it could be harmful.
4. She set up a number of Google alerts to notify her when something containing her name was posted.
5. She looked through YouTube’s privacy statement and search function to see whether anything had been posted about her.
6. In the end, she told a close friend about it and asked him to keep an eye out for anything and to let her know if he saw anything.

So, a day or two passed with no action. Then, however, the victim received an email purportedly from YouTube alerting her to their privacy violation and threatening her with a 15K euro fine. In her foolish reply to this “YouTube” email, she stated that she was being blackmailed and provided the name of the account responsible. After responding, she discovered that both the letter and the address were forgeries, perhaps belonging to a phony YouTube channel. More days passed with nothing happening. Then, when she opened her email, there was another phony message, this one from “Interpol,” warning me that she had 48 hours to respond or risk going to jail. Both of these fraudulent email addresses were blocked.

Message the authorities

If you feel confident in placing your trust in the authorities, we advise doing this. Bring a close friend or relative with you; their emotional support will be helpful while you explain your case to law enforcement professionals. Law enforcement and legislators will be compelled to take tech-related violence seriously and create or enhance protocols and legislation if more individuals report it. Blackmail is wrong and has to be eradicated.

The case study of a Colombian woman whose ex threatened to release private photos obtained during their relationship served as the introduction to the plan. She went to the police, who identified and apprehended the offender. As this form of blackmail is common in Colombia, it is one of many nations with legislation in place to deal with it.

Jurisdictional problems arise in cases where the criminal and victim are in separate nations. Thankfully, there are increasingly more successful global prosecutions.

Repair the harm

In addition to reporting the crime, there are options you can take if the blackmailer spreads your images:

• Delete the extortionate material. You can take actions to prevent the photographs from appearing on the first page of results when someone searches for your name on the internet. For more details, look at “How to erase stuff off the internet.”
• Key actions:
  • requesting that the data be removed from websites
  • contacting Google to request that information is removed
  • establishing a strong internet presence to “hide” the bad search results.
  • informing search engines of legal infractions
  • file a slander claim in court

Some people decide to file a copyright registration with their national copyright office, which supports their ownership claim and enables them to make a legally supported removal request.