Online Sextortion occurs when a fraudster threatens to circulate your private and sensitive material online if you do not provide images of a sexual nature, sexual favors, or money. The perpetrator may also threaten to harm your friends or relatives by using information they have obtained from electronic devices unless you comply with their demands.
Sextortion is a form of online abuse, wherein the cybercriminal makes use of various channels like instant messaging apps, SMS, online dating apps, social media platforms, porn sites, etc., to lure the users into intimate video/audio chats and makes them pose nude or obtains revealing pictures from them. The fraudsters later make use of this material to harass, embarrass, threaten, exploit, and blackmail the victims.
Dangers
- Abuse and Exploitation
- Harassment
- Blackmail
- Threats of public humiliation
- Mental distress
Modus Operandi
- The fraudsters try to lure the users into sharing intimate content in different ways
- posting messages for video/audio chat
- using fake accounts/profiles
- creating pages/ad campaigns
- The users get victimized when they
- pay for such services and pose nude or in a compromising position in video calls
- accepts or sends friend requests to the fake account/profile and is involved in intimate interaction posing nude in video chats, sending revealing pictures, etc.,
- The fraudster records video/ takes screenshots/ takes pictures/makes use of revealing pictures/morphs the pictures sent
- The fraudster starts blackmailing the victim leading to sextortion.
The users of porn sites may also fall prey to sextortion when their chats/video calls on porn sites are used for blackmail by fraudsters.
Channels used for trapping the victims into sextortion
The fraudsters resort to sextortion following the modus operandi given above using various channels like –
- Messaging apps
- Dating apps
- Social media platforms
- Porn sites etc.,
Warning signs indicate attempts of sextortion by cybercriminals
- Repeated untoward messages/video calls from unknown number/s
- Repeated friend requests from an unknown person
- Repeated requests for private intimate pictures, video chats, photos
- Manipulating or redirecting the conversation toward intimate topics
- Rush through the things and try to develop intimacy
Warning signs that may indicate victimization
- Signs of fear, nervousness, anxiety, depression
- Isolating self and being very reactive & emotional
- Feeling desperate and frustrated
- Having suicidal thoughts and self-harming behavior.
Safety tips to protect yourself against online sextortion
- Never share any compromising images, posts, or videos of yourself with anyone, no matter who they are
- Remember that the internet never forgets or forgives. If you have shared something once, it will remain present on the Net forever, in one form or the other.
- Never accept or request friendship from unknown people on social media platforms.
- Enable privacy and security features on your social media accounts and instant messaging apps.
- Use the “Report User” option on social media platforms to report any such
- Do not share your personal/private pictures publicly.
- Turn off your electronic devices and web cameras when you are not using them.
- Use two-factor authentication with strong passwords and different passwords for different social media accounts.
- During an online interaction or chat, if the person on the other side is trying to rush through things and develop intimacy, then it is cause for alarm.
- Never allow anyone, however close to capture any private part or intimate activity with any device. Such data can be misused at a later stage.
- Do not accept video calls or open attachments from people you do not know.
- Save the evidence and the screenshots for referring to the incident later.
- Do not suffer in silence, know that you are not alone, and reach out and seek help from trusted family and friends.
- File a complaint against sextortion online or at your nearest cybercrime cell. Remember that you can also anonymously file an online complaint against such an offense on the national cybercrime reporting portal cybercrime.gov.in.
- Avoid clicking intimate/nude/semi-nude photos/videos on your phone, which if leaked could cause embarrassment. Several rouge mobile apps could access your gallery/storage and can be used to blackmail you.
- Don’t hesitate to file a complaint or contact the police due to shame, embarrassment, and self-blame.
Know what the Law Says about this offense?
It is a punishable offense by law and attracts sections 354 (D), 506 / 507, 509 IPC, and 384 IPC, and Sec.67 of the IT Act is also applicable.
Offenders in such crimes usually thrive on the victim’s silence and lack of clarity in the law. Hence, everyone needs to be aware of the codes and sections that will help them in such cases.
Section 108(1)(i)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code empowers the victim to call the magistrate of her locality and inform him/her about the person whom she believes could circulate any obscene matter. The magistrate has the power to detain such person(s) and can order him to sign a bond to stop him from circulating the material. This might deter the accused. This is a quick remedial section because the victim can complain to the magistrate without any direct evidence against the accused.
Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) incriminates any person who distributes or threatens to disperse any intimate and compromising images of someone through any electronic means, including apps and other social media.
If a picture of the woman is clicked obscenely without her knowledge and is distributed, a voyeurism case under Section 354C of the IPC can also be filed along with the aid of other relevant sections from the Information Technology Act.
