Police launch campaign to raise awareness around sextortion | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Police launch campaign to raise awareness around sextortion

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has launched an online campaign aimed at raising awareness around sextortion.

#StopSextortionNI aims to raise awareness of what sextortion is and the dangers associated with interacting with someone you don’t know online.

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The campaign features an animation which is showcased on PSNI social media channels and website over the coming months.

It depicts two different scenarios – a schoolboy and a married man (unbeknownst to them) talking to the same ‘woman’ online, and how easy it is to be duped by someone you’re ‘talking’ to online.

 

 

PSNI Detective Supt. Rowan Moore said the best way to stop yourself from becoming a victim is to be careful about who you befriend online.

“Sextortion is a form of blackmail where a perpetrator threatens to reveal intimate images of the victim online unless they give in to their demands,” he said.

“These demands are typically for money or further intimate images.

“Criminals might befriend victims online by using a fake identity and then persuade them to perform sexual acts in front of their webcam.

He continued, “Criminals then threaten to share the images with the victims’ friends and family. This can make the victims feel embarrassed and ashamed, and prevent them from coming forward to report the incident.

 

 

“While sextortion can be committed by individuals, organised crime is commonly behind it. Perpetrators can be located anywhere, targeting a number of people, targeting victims through dating apps, social media or webcams. Many are based overseas.

“There is a global element to this but it is important to point out that committing crime online does not make criminals anonymous to law enforcement. We work closely with our partners, such as NCA and Interpol, to track down and apprehend those involved in this criminal activity.

“For the criminal, this is a low-risk way to make money and they can reach many victims easily online. Criminals will always exploit any opportunity to extort money from unsuspecting members of our community but together we can stop it.

“In the past year (Sept. 1st 2018 – Sept. 9th 2019), we have received 167 reports of cyber-related blackmails across Northern Ireland. These reports relate to the attempted blackmail of people of a variety of ages, from teenagers to people in their 60s, as a result of footage that they have willingly participated in and which could be embarrassing if released.

 

 

Detective Supt. Rowan Moore continued, “The culprits can ask for anything from about £200 to thousands of pounds/euros to ensure the footage isn’t released on social media platforms and although we believe most of the victims who report it to us don’t pay any money, there are some that do.

“Police are committed to fully investigating this type of crime when it is reported to us; however, we want to do all we can to raise awareness so this doesn’t happen at all. We also need victims of sextortion to report it.

“We believe these types of crimes are generally under-reported and that in some cases, people prefer to pay money rather than contact police.

He added, “We would urge anyone who has been the victim of cyber-related blackmail to come forward and report it to police on 101 or 999 in an emergency. Even though it may be embarrassing, anybody who is the victim of such a crime should be reassured that we are able to deal with it.”

 

 

The advice can be found on the Get Safe Online website at https://www.getsafeonline.org or https://www.psni.police.uk/advice_information/sextortion/.

If you would like to speak to anyone concerning any issues you may have please call the 101 number.

The animation can be viewed at https://www.psni.police.uk/advice_information/sextortion/.

 

 

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Posted by on Oct 10 2019. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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