Sophos Cloud Optix
# And when two lovers woo
They still say, “I love you.”
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by. #
The famous song Dooley Wilson sang in Casablanca may have got it wrong. For the age-old romantic story of “Boy meets girl” has surely become an awful lot more complicated now the internet has come along.
At least, that’s what male computer users in Singapore are discovering.
We’ve warned readers before about some of the dangers involved in finding love online. Such as the true story of the Facebook blind date that turned into a supermarket robbery.
Now, people are being warned about another risk of finding love in the online world – webcam extortion.
But it’s not the familiar headline of perverted hackers blackmailing young women into stripping in front of the camera.
This time the tables have turned, and it’s *men* who are being victimised by *women*, in a peculiar twist on traditional webcam extortion.
Singapore’s Police Force has warned of femme fatales befriending potential victims on sites such as Facebook and Tagged.com.
The women enter steamy webcam conversations with their prey, where they strip and encourage their male victim to do the same.
What the man doesn’t realise, as he feverishly rips his clothes off and agrees to engage in various sexual acts in front of the camera, is that his female love interest is secretly recording everything that’s going on.
The male victim is then blackmailed for money by the woman who threatens to circulate the compromising photographs and videos.
Ouch! That must put a dampener on the evening.
Here is a video of a Singapore TV programme which reconstructed just this kind of crime. (Warning: The acting is a bit cringeworthy)
The Singapore Police Force says it has seen a five-fold increase in the number of reported cases of such web extortion – over 50 in 2012, compared to 11 the previous year.
Here is a summary of their tips to avoid you becoming the next man to be duped in such a fashion:
- Always be wary of strangers befriending you on social networks. If they’re suddenly showing a romantic interest in you, ask yourself honestly if it’s likely that they’ve selected you for online love out of the billions of other internet users.
- Never put yourself into a compromising position on your webcam. In short, keep your clothes on.. as you can’t be sure if the person at the other end isn’t making a video recording. At the same time, you shouldn’t give away too much personal information to someone you don’t really know.
- If anyone does ever attempt to extort money from you online, don’t pay them. Contact the police instead. You may be embarrassed about the mess you have got yourself into, but the authorities are the right ones to investigate and (hopefully) bring the culprit to justice.
The threat doesn’t just lie with webcam blackmail either. You can imagine how a man, believing he is being seduced online by a sexy woman, might be all too eager to click on a link she suggests or run a malicious program on his computer. Before he knows it, his computer could be under the control of a hacker.
Be careful out there, and keep your trousers on chaps.
Webcam and female silhouette image from Shutterstock.
Incongruous advice on a website called Naked Security. "Keep your clothes on!" Tut, tut.
Good one, thanks for the laugh. ;^)
Isn't it easier to always have a cover on your webcam, just to make sure that even if someone has managed to hijack your cam, they still can't see what's in front of it. There are times when physical controls are a lot better than electronic ones.
I think that this trick can only succeed in backward countries with a social prejudice against against naked human body or sex images, most males in advanced countries wouldn't worry too much about it if someone posted their personal naked or sex images online.
@Sam, you are missing the point I'm afraid. This is social engineering pure and simple, no hacking involved…
Two things here:
1 – The death of our good friend Common Sense.
2 – There is a reason God invented Duck Tape… To cover that Bleepin' lens!!
I don’t think number 2 would help in this case.
These were guys who *willingly* took their clothes off and waved their bits around. They weren’t unknowingly broadcasting over their webcams – they just didn’t realise that the woman at the other end was recording everything, and planning to use the images and any video captured for extortion.
Post nude video clips on YouTube? Good luck with that one.
I know..lol.
It would be quickly reported and taken down..Not at all extremely likely that his friends and family would see it either (assuming they weren't sent a link)
Not that of course there will some men out there who wont be able to resist the visage of a hot wanton woman toying with his masculinity and false sense of ego. Cashing in all the way…
Oh gawd the acting is nasty. Damn, this is embarrassing. But then again, I don't think the police force had much budget to shoot this lol.
a lof of these "women" doing strip shows are looped vidoes being played by men, google e-whoring and you'll soon find that theres a thriving industry of males doing it for cash, why they'd want to see another man strip down and "do stuff" probably raises more questions about them and why they e-whore.
This is currently happening to me. I was stupid and it's a 30 second clip. Just some frontal nudity. What do I do now? I'm located in Canada, and they have my full name and address.
Any help would be appreciated.
If you are being blackmailed, phone the police. Getting advice from random strangers on the internet is an odd response, given what led to where you are now.
I would also suggest not caring too much. So there is a 30 second video of you doing something a bit "naughty"…. Who cares?
Go ahead and post a 30 sec vid about me “doing stuff” im not worried im physically fit in good health and dont have a … “shortage” problem to worry about. :I