The widespread use of social networking sites, chat applications and electronic games made it easier for extortionists to hunt down their victims and affect their private lives. With the increase in digital communication, imposed by the “Corona” pandemic, extortion operations included victims of all ages and cultural and social levels. After hunting their victims, the "electronic extortion hackers" do not hesitate to threaten them to publish photos or videos or leak the calls they recorded and kept, unless they pay them money, or acquiesce in their sexual requests.
It may go beyond the limits of these demands to assign them to commit crimes. According to the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, it registered 1,589 cases of electronic extortion in the emirate, during the period from 2017 to last September.
According to specialists, extortion cases are often the result of the emotional whims of the victims, noting that the cases that are not reported for fear of scandal and the view of society, are no less than 80% of the total actual cases.
State courts have examined many cases of electronic extortion, in which the victim is often female, as the perpetrators hunt their victims, women and girls, through social networking sites, after deluding them with admiration, love and desire for association. As for men, they get involved through friend requests from fake women's accounts, or advertisements for massage sessions.
(Sanaa), a young woman in her 20s, did not realize the extent of the pressures imposed on the victims of extortion, only after she met a young man via Twitter, with whom she had a romantic relationship.
And on the impact of his sweet words, and his constant promises to her to marry, she started sending him private photos and videos, but she discovered after a few months that he was not a Gulf Arab, as he said, and that he assumed a different name to his real name, and that he resides in the country illegally, so she decided to cut off her relationship with him. And she asked him not to contact her again, and it did not take long for him to show her his true face, she says, as he threatened her to expose their relationship, and to publish the photos in his possession, to defame her on social media, asking her to transfer money to him, and she gave in to his threat for fear of The scandal, which encouraged him to continue to blackmail her.
(Sana) said that she continued to send money to him, and she resorted to the bank after her savings ran out, bringing the total amounts he received from her to 700 thousand dirhams. She justified her silence and submission to his blackmail by saying that the photos and videos reflected their emotional connection, and if her family and acquaintances saw her, a major scandal would have occurred.
When she ran out of money, and had no way to get more, she decided to report to the police. She quickly discovered that the solution was in front of her all the time, but her shyness prevented her from trying. The police arrested the blackmailer and transferred him to court, where he received a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 500,000 dirhams, in addition to confiscating the phone used in the crime, and banishing him from state after serving the sentence.
In another story, "Laila" recalls the details of her falling into the blackmail trap through a person who claimed that he had the ability to treat diseases with herbs, as she sent him 10 thousand dirhams, and a set of pictures to describe the appropriate treatment for her. She said the blackmailer asked her to send her other photos so he could locate the pain.
When he asked her for more money, she refused his request, so he threatened her to publish the photos she had sent him for treatment, and she found no solution but to file a complaint against him. She said that the police succeeded in tracking down and arresting him.
As for Raghad, she began her story with blackmail by saying that she did not know the blackmailer, but he was able to hack her accounts on social media, copy her conversations with her friends, and private photos and videos from her mobile phone, and threatened to inform her husband, and publish photos on social networking sites if She refused to meet him.
She said that the blackmailer sent her pictures of conversations that took place between her and others as a means of pressure to meet him, otherwise he published the pictures and sent them to her husband, and she did not find a way to solve the problem but to resort to the police.
In a third story, Shana Adshi reveals that she was blackmailed by a friend she met on a chat site, who had cemented their relationship after he promised her to marry. When I was sure that he was not serious, I decided to stay away from him, but he created an account on "Facebook" and uploaded their photos and videos to him, and he always said, as a threat: "Do not make me angry." "He put me under severe threat, I couldn't stand it, so I eventually reported it to the police," she says.
Ayman Nizar was surprised by his 10-year-old daughter, who informed him that someone had talked to her through the chat rooms in one of the famous electronic games, and asked her to photograph herself without clothes, and send pictures to him in exchange for giving her money through which she could increase her points and balances in the game, and enable her to fight Competition stages with better reviews, so he hurried to report to the police.
The competent authorities tracked down the troll and arrested him, and found in his possession about 200 photos belonging to more than 10 children, whom he was planning to blackmail and harass them.
The victims of electronic extortion are not limited to women and girls, as young men and mature men, of different ages and cultural levels, have fallen into its traps. The high school student (Abdullah), and this is a pseudonym, tells the story of his indecent assault by a blackmailer, and how he caught him through a friend request and connected to a chat site from a fake account in the name of a girl.
He explained that the fictitious girl kept courting him until she persuaded him to send pictures and videos in disturbing situations, then revealed her true personality, and it turned out that she was an Arab youth. He added that the blackmailer obtained money from him, met him more than once, and harassed him while he was with him in his car, after he threatened to publish his pictures and expose him.
While the threat continued and he asked to meet with him and be alone with him, he decided to report to the police, who arrested him, and charged him with the felony of indecent assault, and threatening a person with attributing dishonorable matters, using the means of information technology.
Jamal, 40, recounts that he was browsing social networking sites, and he was stopped by an advertisement for a massage center offering big discounts on sessions, which encouraged him to call and book.
He remembers feeling great humiliation after being caught by advertisement, being lured and robbed under duress, being photographed naked, and blackmailing two women.
Jamal says: “The incident started when I communicated through a social media application with a woman offering massage services, and she gave me an address. I discovered that there were two women, one of whom took inappropriate pictures of me with the other, and then threatened me to publish the pictures if I did not comply with them and give them what I had of money.”
According to the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, it recorded 1,589 cases of electronic extortion in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from 2017 to last September.
The sexual threat was the most common type of blackmail, according to the department's statistics, while the age group most targeted for electronic blackmail was from 18 to 25 years.
The department confirmed that women are the most reluctant to report being blackmailed, despite dealing with all cases confidentially, noting that the “Inform the Public Prosecution” application, which allows the public to report their exposure to cybercrime or blackmail, has become more effective, and receives reports It is superior to what is presented in police stations, because it allows for the possibility of submitting a report in secret, or of requesting that the problem not be referred to the judiciary.
The department identified the most prominent means used in electronic extortion, according to recent statistics, with pictures, audio recordings, videos, e-mail, and social media applications, warning that the victim's response to the offender means that he was able to achieve his goal, but some victims report directly and seek help, which is better. What can be done.
She called on members of the community, in the event of blackmail, to inform the police or the competent judicial authorities, and to communicate with the various electronic services in the country, which allow the submission of electronic reports, such as the “Notify the Public Prosecution” system of the Public Prosecution in Abu Dhabi.
It also warned against transferring any sums of money in response to the offender's demands, or disclosing credit card numbers, in addition to refusing to bow to the offender's demands or achieve his goals.
She pointed out that electronic extortion results in high crime rates in society, and the spread of mental illnesses, due to the victims' suffering from pressure.
8 caveats to avoid falling into the blackmail trap
The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department identified eight precautions to avoid becoming a victim of electronic blackmail, which included not trusting anonymous people through social networking sites, not giving any personal data to unknown sources via e-mail or phone, avoiding video chats with anonymous people, and not entering porn sites or any suspicious sites (dating sites). And chat), and not to give smart devices for maintenance except to an authorized agent or trusted shops, and not to give personal data and information through social networking sites, and to benefit from the warnings and instructions provided by the relevant government agencies in this regard, in addition to the role of the family in enhancing the confidence of its children in the correct use of electronic programs and applications, and not completely depriving them.
Effective actions
The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department confirmed the existence of cooperation and partnership with Facebook, which owns several social networking applications, regarding dealing with cybercrime, addressing extortion, through effective measures to protect victims, recovering hacked accounts, as well as controlling the spread of images and videos that use a means. Extortion, in cooperation with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority within the state.
The head of the Public Prosecution Department, Abdullah Hamad Al-Mansoori, stated that the judiciary is working within the provisions of the jurisdiction that allow to file a case against the offender, and to prosecute him legally within the country. In the event that it is outside it, the effort is to protect the victim’s privacy by directing her to report the account hack, and helping her to communicate with the company that runs the application or site.
Al-Mansoori confirmed that the department, in cooperation with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, and Facebook, as the owner of the most famous social media platforms, discussed the legal and practical problems facing the investigation of cybercrime, and extortion crimes in particular, pointing out that the company showed its interest and provided lines of communication. Hot to cordon off these crimes, by providing the competent authorities with the identifier of the private account of the offender, to control the matter as much as possible, and access to it to prevent the publication of images or clips that use a method, and return the hacked accounts, under certain conditions.
• Victims of electronic extortion, including young men and mature men, as well as women and girls.
• An extortionist hacks into his victim's phone, copies her private conversations and videos, and threatens her to inform her husband.
• An extortionist pushes his victim to resort to the bank... and the victim loses 700 thousand dirhams because of "shyness"... and an attempt to avoid scandal.
• 1589 cases of electronic extortion registered in Abu Dhabi, between 2017 and last September.
• 80% of cases of extortion that are not reported, for fear of scandal.
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