If you are very active on social media and often end up making new friends online, then you need to be a little careful. In the recent past, cases of cyber frauds have increased significantly in which people have become victims of sextortion. Most of the victims of sextortion are younger. At the same time, most of the criminals who commit such crimes are men. In this context, it is important for us to understand sextortion.
Sextortion is a form of sexual harassment in which the accused misuses his power, position or blackmail the victim to either get money or exploit sexually.
Just as power is abused, sextortion is also a form of corruption. This includes the fulfilment of physical demands in return for any power or covetousness, or to extort sexual favours in return for something.
Many times, attempts are made to take advantage of young women by luring them with jobs, all of which fall under the category of sextortion. These days the sextortion rate on social media has increased a lot. The accused randomly hacked the personal photos of women by hacking their social media accounts and by threatening to make them viral, forcing women to have sex. Through various apps on the online portal, the accused blackmail women through hacking.
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Besides, sometimes women also fall in love with online strangers this, the criminal becomes close to the women and later blackmails them through objectionable pictures and videos. In such a situation, the accused sometimes demands objectionable things.
Modus operandi:
- Blackmailers first check someone’s profile on a social site.
- From they fetch information on you and your family.
- They try to become your friends and start getting closer.
- If anyone falls for close intimacy, they record through screen recording.
- In another method, criminals also morph photos taken from your profile.
- After this, they start blackmailing.
Tips to keep yourself safe from this:
- Keep your account private on all social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
- Before accepting the friendship request, check the profile of the other person thoroughly.
- Do not attend video calls from unknown numbers.
- Keep your personal photos or information private on social media.
- Avoid chatting with strangers on WhatsApp or other messengers.
- Do not surf visit any porn site or other malicious websites.
- Only visit websites that have a lock icon before their URL.
- Avoid opening websites whose lock icon is cut out in red.
- If someone is blackmailing, then feel free to report the cyber crime. Police always try to keep your identity anonymous.
Also read: It’s High time! Where does India stand on marital rape?