Beware of those who ask for your friendship on Facebook: they may be scammers who encourage you to record sexual acts and then blackmail you
Do you often accept the friendship of an unknown person? Be careful, hackers could be blackmailing you. To launch the alarm is once again the State Police that, through a post published on the Facebook profile "Una vita da social", warns against suspicious requests.
The message brings to attention one of the most dangerous and profitable practices used by cybercriminals to deceive victims: the sextortion. A person, after being contacted by an attractive girl (the scam can also affect women), accepts the friendship. Subsequently, the unfortunate person starts a conversation on Messenger with what he believes to be a woman. The tone of the exchange is enriched with intimate details and at this point the hacker, with any excuse, asks for the Skype contact. The reason is quite simple: the perpetrator wants to push the victim into sexual acts in front of the webcam. Once the video is recorded, the hackers reveal their true face.
The blackmail in red light
As the Police warns on Facebook, the final objective is to extort, with the weapon of blackmail, money from the victim. The amount, according to what is written in the post, is between 500 and 1500 euros.
At the Postal Police, many cases like these have been reported over the years. Unfortunately, however, not all people who have fallen into the trap of cyber criminals agree to come out into the open. A part of the victims, in fact, fearing that the hackers could spread the video on the net, decide to pay. Few people have the courage to report the extortion attempt to the police.
How to Protect Yourself
The best way to protect yourself from sextortion is to open your eyes. Be wary of unfamiliar contacts, as the police themselves suggest on "A Life of Social". Especially if the request comes from a beautiful person, man or woman, that you have never met in your life.
Limit the number of sensitive information published. Often, in fact, hackers, in order to make the fraud attempt realistic, conduct an investigation based on the content (including images) accessible to everyone on Facebook. It is also very important to review the privacy terms of the social, preventing anyone from accessing everything you post on the platform.