Do you have a teenage child? Did you know that organised criminal gangs are targeting teenagers (and younger children), pretending to be attractive teenagers themselves to start an online "relationship", solicit intimate images, then blackmail them for money they don't have? This can destroy children mentally, even to the point of suicide. Make sure your child isn't a victim. Make sure they understand that not everyone is who they appear to be online, and that if they make a mistake and end up being blackmailed, they can come to you and you will support them. If Ofcom's approach to implementing the Online Safety Act lives up to parliamentary promises the risk should diminish, but we're never going to have a perfect internet. We will always need to help our children develop the skills to avoid getting into a mess online, and the resilience and support to cope if they do.
⚠️ Every parent needs to know about this cyber crime because it’s killing teens at an unprecedented rate. Last month, I said it would only be a matter of time until another kid kills himself from this scam. Well, SEVEN more kids have been confirmed dead since then. ⚠️ This is a public safety emergency. It’s called financial sextortion, and it’s surging up 7200% according to NCMEC. Here’s what parents need to know: - Almost all of the financial sextortion targeting minors is coming from a loosely affiliated group of cybercriminals called the "Yahoo Boys" located in Nigeria and Ivory Coast. - Almost all of the financial sextortion targeting minors is occurring on Instagram and Snapchat. - Criminals are using catfish accounts to send hundreds of thousands of follow requests to boys on Instagram, every day, impersonating young females. The moment the teen accepts, the criminal takes screenshots of his Follower and Following lists. - Then, the criminals lure the kids to Snap, where they coerce the kid to send an explicit photo. Boom. Now, the relentless blackmail starts. “I have your nudes and everything needed to ruin your life… I will send this to all your followers, unless you pay me $300 right now.” - Yes, of course, tell your kids not to send photos like this. But the more important part of that conversation is "if it does happen, let me know, and we'll fix it together." Here’s what kids need to know: - Criminals can send what appear to be “live” photos and videos on Snapchat with the Red and Purple icons, but are actually pre-recorded videos. The catfishes are more convincing than ever. - Criminals can screenshot and save Snapchat videos, bypassing the notification that typically alerts users when a screenshot has been taken. - The moment an Instagram user accepts the follow request of a scammer, their follower/following lists are compromised. This gives criminals immense leverage to use as blackmail, threatening to send the compromising photos to all friends and family. - If it happens, do not pay. Talk to a parent/adult. Help is available. 💡💡 Instagram can mitigate a vast majority of sextortion incidents by making one simple, practical, privacy change today: - Instagram can disrupt this crime and save lives by making minors’ followers/following lists *always* private by default. - Currently, the instant an Instagram user accepts a scammer’s follow request, their followers/following lists are exposed to the criminals. These lists are the primary source of leverage in nearly all financial sextortion schemes targeting minors. - Meta already allows Facebook users to keep their Friends list truly private, but it does not afford teens this same privacy setting on Instagram. Why? #cybercrime #sextortion #childprotection #parenting #privacybydesign #safetybydesign
Thank you for sharing this and raising awareness Ian. Very frightening & an important reminder.
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