Social media surfers warned: Avoid blackmailers’ traps

BEWARE! Criminals pose as friends on some sites to entice the gullible. (Agencies)

RIYADH: Saudi police warned surfers of social networking sites to guard against gangs that blackmail people after seducing the gullible. They also warned surfers of the possibility of terrorist groups adopting the same tactic.

The Saudi National Central Bureau that collaborates with the Interpol posted a warning on its official Internet page warning users against social networking sites exploited by gangs from outside the Kingdom to blackmail citizens and residents with Facebook and Lovoo accounts.
The bureau said that given the large number of anonymous users of the various social media, some gangs resort to seduction and eroticism to trap users. It said that such criminals often use fake accounts on social media, mostly disguised as girls who look alluring.
Explaining the steps such criminals follow to attract users the bureau said: "The criminal first sends a friend request after creating a fake account using the photo of a beautiful girl to con the victim. The criminal then begins to exchange text messages and soon enough he begins to lure the victim to communicate by video on Skype during which the conversation takes a sexual turn. The victims are often asked to get naked and perform indecent acts in front of the video camera.
“After a matter of moments only, the victim receives a text message on the cell phone with a link to the video, and is blackmailed into paying extortion money.”
The police said what the victim sees on the screen is merely the recorded image of a girl, and not the real criminal.
Sometimes there are several criminals, often gangs of men and women who are professional criminals bent on collecting money, or even exploited by terrorist groups as a source of income at the global level.
The police urged Saudi citizens and residents to be extra careful when using social media, to safeguard their privacy and not allow themselves to be lured by dirty acts, and not to send blackmail money. They should also cut all connection with the criminals and report the matter to the police or via the website of the Ministry of Interior.
The Ministry of the Interior, represented by the Department of Public Security for the Anti-Cybercrimes, put 17 crimes under this category including extortion and online defamation, soliciting via video chat, and making the male victim perform indecent acts and then threatening to publish such videos, and illegally accessing personal accounts and mailing addresses to obtain personal files and then blackmailing the victim.