‘Sextortion’ attacks, where cybercriminals blackmail victims with
the threat of exposing explicit photographs or messages are becoming
increasingly common, according to a report by Bloomberg News. The FBI has issued warnings that sextortion is on the rise; with
attackers using methods including searching stolen computer equipment for
explicit imagery, hacking social media accounts and using malware to steal
images from computers. Bloomberg describes
one case in which a young mother (name withheld) was driven to suicide, and
interviewed a New Hampshire woman whose suffering at the hands of a
“sextortionist” left her feeling traumatized two years later.
Previous reports have highlighted cases in which children were targeted and blackmailed into uploading further
naked pictures, which were then traded among paedophiles online. “This is a
growing problem,” said Wesley Hsu, chief of the cyber-crimes unit at the U.S.
Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Hsu says that the threat of exposure in
sextortion attacks is particularly distressing as the internet is “quite
permanent”. Bloomberg reports that at least 20 criminals have been prosecuted
for such scams, with victims thought to number in the thousands. The FBI has
previously warned of a growing number of criminals involved in “sextortion”.
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