Online ‘sextortion’ is the fastest growing crime targeting children in the Western world, according to a recent study, but social media companies aren’t doing more to prevent it. That’s what it means.
A West African cybercrime group known as “Yahoo Boys” is promoting “financial sextortion.” It involves forcing children and teens to send explicit images of themselves, then threatening the families with widespread distribution of the images unless repeated payments are made.According to the app, cryptocurrency transfer, or gift card study of the Network Infection Research Institute (NCRI).
The nonprofit said Yahoo Boys use social media platforms Instagram, Snapchat and Wiz to find and contact victims. Cybercriminals also use social media platforms to promote their tactics and recruit new members.
According to the NCRI investigation, Yahoo Boys posts training videos and guides to help others carry out financial sextortion scams on social media platforms such as China’s TikTok, Scribd, and Google’s YouTube. It turned out that
Researchers also found numerous videos on TikTok and YouTube of self-proclaimed Yahoo Boys carrying out sextortion scams. He also found a script on Scribd that tells other scammers what to say to their victims.
The NCRI also noted that such materials published on various platforms were viewed more than 500,000 times.
In a YouTube video examination According to NBC News and CNBC, Yahoo Boy told viewers how to “catch customers” and told them to keep the victim’s attention by acting “like a real girl.”
From there, the cyber crook explained how to coerce victims into sending explicit photos of themselves. The video also included step-by-step instructions on how to blackmail victims and force them to send money.
One of the documents found on Scribd contained a script that read, “Are you ready to follow me?” I’ll make you so miserable that you can’t even think about it… I’ll send your nudes to a bunch of people online… Do you want this – yes or no. If you don’t want that to happen, you have to pay me. ”
“How far have we gotten there?[?] If you’re thinking about $200, forget it, I’m going to post your nudes and I’m going to make you die in pain,” the script added.
NCRI also noted that these types of scripts have been available online for years and are still readily available on social media platforms such as Meta’s Instagram and Snapchat.
NCRI Senior Intelligence Analyst Paul LaFail, who co-led the study, said sextortion is a “transnational criminal threat that is actually responsible for the deaths of a significant number of Americans.” It pointed out that this type of crime mainly affects boys and young people. The man led the victim to commit suicide.
For example, in August we reported that two Nigerian men had been extradited to the United States to face charges related to a sextortion scam that authorities said led to the suicide of a 17-year-old Michigan high school student. report According to NBC News.
And in November, a Nigerian man made headlines after the Secret Service said he had committed Yahoo Boys tactics, including sextortion, and $2.5 million in wire fraud, according to court filings obtained by CNBC and NBC News. Indicted by jury.
According to the indictment, a Nigerian man and his co-conspirators used fake accounts on Facebook and Snapchat to connect with young male users and access their lists of friends and followers. Attire, then explicit images.
After threatening to share explicit photos, the Nigerian man promised his victims that he and his co-conspirators would delete the images or at least refrain from distributing them if they were paid.
But even after receiving the money, the scammers continue to blackmail victims into making additional payments, the filing said.
Notably, these Yahoo Boys tactics are gaining popularity in West Africa as a get-rich-quick method, according to Atavist research. Yahoo Boys has been mentioned in popular songs, giving cybercriminals a lot of influence.
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