Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Police warn of ‘sextortion’ scheme targeting students on social media
Fox 31 Denver ^ | 1/22/24 | Lanie Lee Cook

Posted on 01/23/2024 11:16:54 AM PST by DallasBiff

DENVER (KDVR) — Police are warning of a so-called “sextortion” scheme against Aurora students, dozens of whom have been targeted with blackmail on social media.

Students have reported that the scammers contact them through Instagram, the Aurora Police Department said on Monday.“A scammer could threaten to post explicit material on the internet or social media unless they receive money from their targeted victim. Sextortion could also involve sharing sexually explicit images with others in exchange for money,” the release said.

In six cases out of Aurora, the students said they were direct targets of the sextortion scheme after someone reached out on Instagram. Police said in dozens of other cases, the students got an unsolicited invitation to pay to join a private Instagram “Close Friends” list with sexually explicit material. Close friends lists are made by users who then choose other users to see that private content.

(Excerpt) Read more at kdvr.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: colorado; instagram; sextortion; socialmedia
Well it's the 2020's and social media rules in these students "brains".

Isn't Instagram owned by Zuckerburg.

1 posted on 01/23/2024 11:16:54 AM PST by DallasBiff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

I believe so, yes, along with fakebook.


2 posted on 01/23/2024 11:19:32 AM PST by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

Yes it is. That’s why nothing is done about the problem.


3 posted on 01/23/2024 11:20:36 AM PST by packagingguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: packagingguy

Well there is an obvious solution.


4 posted on 01/23/2024 11:23:38 AM PST by gibsonguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: gibsonguy

Can’t be something as simple as don’t do anything you wouldn’t want shown on the internet, particularly if a camera is present, could it?


5 posted on 01/23/2024 11:26:41 AM PST by skr (Righteousness exalteth a nation: sin is a reproach to any people. - Proverbs 14:34)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: skr

And there it is.


6 posted on 01/23/2024 11:31:06 AM PST by gibsonguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: skr

Unfortunately, AI makes it easy to produce realistic images of you in compromising positions. Not long ago, only the big spook agencies could do that. Now anybody can.


7 posted on 01/23/2024 11:37:03 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

This is how DC operates, so I guess they’re branching out.


8 posted on 01/23/2024 11:40:41 AM PST by Empire_of_Liberty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

The possibility that AI can make a fake image or video is not a reason to pay a scammer.


9 posted on 01/23/2024 11:54:02 AM PST by webheart
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

The vast majority of cases require no AI generated images. That is a new/recent thing. Its not necessary when you have taken hundreds of semi or nudes of yourself on your phone and also stored them “in the cloud”.


10 posted on 01/23/2024 11:54:51 AM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

The scammers are getting more creative.

For roughly one year, I have been getting junk email from alleged hackers who claim they have hijacked my computer and its camera.

For just a few hundred dollars in Bitcoin, they promise to return control of my computer, and they vow never to reveal any of the kinky things I do in my apartment or watch on the Web.

Since almost all teenagers have a guilty conscience about something, I will guess the alleged hackers have a much higher success ratio with the youngsters than they have with old men like me.


11 posted on 01/23/2024 11:59:04 AM PST by zeestephen (Trump "Lost" By 43,000 Votes - Spread Across Three States - GA, WI, AZ)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: zeestephen

“...hackers who claim they have hijacked my computer and its camera.”

I got TONS of those several years ago and they stopped. I figured that scam had died out and there weren’t enough suckers left.

Recently I was getting tons of “Your Microsoft Community subscription will end” scam mails. The first one always makes you wonder “what do I do now?” but when #2 to #10 arrive, you know it’s a scam. The scammers are too stupid to make sure all their worldwide spambot networks are coordinated and don’t deliver the same message to the same user more than once.


12 posted on 01/23/2024 12:08:43 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

With AI sextortion can be used against anyone, even virgins. All you have to have done is put a pic of yourself on internet. With AI that face can be seamlessly put on a body in a sex scene.


13 posted on 01/23/2024 12:35:07 PM PST by arthurus ( covfefe 3)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

A really good idea is to not take naked photos of yourself...


14 posted on 01/23/2024 1:18:50 PM PST by Republican Wildcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

Anybody stupid enough to let anyone have sexually explicit material deserves to be in the sextortion arena.

Stupidity has no limits.


15 posted on 01/23/2024 1:22:41 PM PST by Vaduz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

My “subscriptions” expiring are those I’ve never even heard of.


16 posted on 01/23/2024 1:24:23 PM PST by Fledermaus (It's time to get rid of the Three McStooges; Mitch, Kevin and Ronna! 1 gone, 1 almost dead. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

Over time, AI will be the scammers’ undoing and put them out of business. Victims, whether it’s really them or not, need only claim to the world “It’s fake! It’s AI!”. Just this morning, I saw a photo realistic AI image of Trump and Biden smiling and chatting on a park bench. AI video with audio is really gonna do major damage to society, eventually.


17 posted on 01/23/2024 1:38:53 PM PST by LittleBillyInfidel (This tagline has been formatted to fit the screen. Some content has been edited.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

99.999% of these scams can be avoided with basic common sense. Don’t sign up for a sex site. Never send naked or revealing pictures of yourself. Even a teenager should understand that. And most tech-savvy teens should understand that these scams exist.


18 posted on 01/23/2024 1:50:37 PM PST by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

That’s sadly true.


19 posted on 01/23/2024 5:00:27 PM PST by skr (Righteousness exalteth a nation: sin is a reproach to any people. - Proverbs 14:34)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson