A panicked 14-year-old from British Columbia and his family paid $1,500 to a company that claimed it would recover intimate images that were being used to extort him. It didnB次元官网网址檛.
Darren Laur, chief training officer at White Hatter, an internet safety and digital literacy education company based in Victoria said the teenB次元官网网址檚 family reached out to him with their story after the other firm told them there was nothing that could be done.
He said the boy had fallen victim to a growing fraud tactic.
B次元官网网址淭hese companies are popping up all over the place right now. Why? Because sextortion is on a huge increase,B次元官网网址� Laur said in an interview. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e almost becoming predatory in and of themselves, in my opinion.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淪extortionB次元官网网址� refers to threats based on a sexual image of a victim, or an image thatB次元官网网址檚 been altered to make it appear sexual.
Many Canadians learned of the risks of sextortion through Amanda Todd, a teenager from Port Coquitlam, B.C., who died by suicide at age 15 in October 2012, a few weeks after posting a video using flash cards to describe being tormented by an online predator.
A Dutch man was convicted in B.C. Supreme Court last year of extortion, harassment and distribution of child pornography in ToddB次元官网网址檚 case.
B次元官网网址淚t disgusts me how these rings of offenders (operate). First theyB次元官网网址檙e sextorting people and now theyB次元官网网址檙e trying to get more money out of taking their image down,B次元官网网址� Carol Todd, AmandaB次元官网网址檚 mother, said in an interview.
B次元官网网址淲hen youB次元官网网址檙e in desperate mode, youB次元官网网址檒l do anything, so the messaging we need to get it out there is to not fall for it with these companies.B次元官网网址�
She said authorities B次元官网网址渕issed the mark when Amanda died.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲e thought it was a one-off. No one knew what (sextortion) was, but here we are 10 years later, and itB次元官网网址檚 an epidemic now with young kids.B次元官网网址�
The RCMPB次元官网网址檚 National Child Exploitation Crime Centre said it received a total of 52,306 complaints about the crime for the year 2020-21, marking a 510 per cent increase from seven years earlier.
The Winnipeg-based Centre for Child Protection runs Cybertip, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 tip line for reporting online child sexual abuse. It has reported receiving B次元官网网址渁n unprecedented volume of reports from youth, and sometimes their concerned parents, about falling prey to aggressive sextortion tactics,B次元官网网址� amounting to about 300 online sextortion cases a month.
Cybertip is now warning about sextortion recovery scams, wherefraudsters target the same people who were victims of the extortion scam, claiming they will be able to recover intimate images for a fee.
It said reports shared by victims online reveal that these individuals and groups, sometimes referred to as B次元官网网址渞ecovery scammers,B次元官网网址� often self-advertise as hackers, cybersecurity or reputation management firms.
B次元官网网址淥ftentimes, in an environment where (people are) highly desperate, theyB次元官网网址檙e more vulnerable to paying that money, or reaching out and trying to figure out a way to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,B次元官网网址滳atherine Tabak, the tip lineB次元官网网址檚 program manager, said in an interview.
B次元官网网址淚t just creates a sort of additional layer of vulnerability for them when theyB次元官网网址檝e been victimized by sextortion.B次元官网网址�
She notes that this type of scam is not new, but echoed that it has increased alongside the boom in sextortion.
B次元官网网址淲e really wanted to put the word out there to kind of get ahead of the game because we were seeing an increase in calls and victims coming forward indicating that they had contacted these companies, or that theyB次元官网网址檝e been in touch with someone that was presenting themselves as being a hacker that could help them out.B次元官网网址�
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma tabled legislation Monday that would provide additional protections for people whose intimate images are shared without permission.
While publication of intimate images without consent is already an offence under the Criminal Code, Sharma said the bill would create new legal rights and remedies people could use to stop distribution of the images and seek compensation for the harms caused.
Laur, who is also retired Victoria police sergeant, said the bill didnB次元官网网址檛 come as a surprise because the government consulted him and other stakeholders about it.
B次元官网网址淭his piece of legislation is, in my opinion, groundbreaking,B次元官网网址� he said in an interview. B次元官网网址淚s it going to solve the issue? No. Is it another tool in the tool box for survivors? Absolutely.B次元官网网址�
He said it may have a B次元官网网址渟mall deterrent effect,B次元官网网址� but he expects sextortionists and recovery scammers to continue to profit.
B次元官网网址淚t wonB次元官网网址檛 necessarily prevent it from happening. If the Criminal Code stopped everything, we wouldnB次元官网网址檛 need police officers anymore,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭he bigger benefit to this is that it holds the offender accountable for what theyB次元官网网址檝e done.B次元官网网址�
The new laws are more likely to help people whose intimate images have been shared by someone they know, which happens more often to females targeted by previous partners, he said.
Calgary Police Service Det. Steve Brighton, who works for the Southern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit, said police are also concerned about the rise of sextortion recovery scams.
B次元官网网址淚 havenB次元官网网址檛 seen it in Alberta yet, but I know the U.S. has seen it and we know about it occurring in the U.S., and thatB次元官网网址檚 just another way for these offenders to make money,B次元官网网址� he said.
He added that he believes sextortion is a vastly under-reported crime.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a huge worldwide problem now, and I donB次元官网网址檛 think I donB次元官网网址檛 even think weB次元官网网址檝e touched the surface in identifying the victims.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擝rieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press
