What to do if you are blackmailed: photo video VKontakte

The World Wide Web has long become part of the habitual way of life of a modern person. Along with new technological capabilities of users, new methods of crime have appeared that affect the privacy of those who cannot imagine themselves without a computer or tablet. Many of us have long followed the habit of “sharing” personal photos with our friends, colleagues, and spouses. Sometimes actively capturing yourself brings problems associated with extortion, coercion to perform some action in exchange for non-distribution of candid photographs. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the ransomware often “works” under a fictitious name and nothing is known about it. What to do if you are blackmailed on the Internet?

Methods of blackmail on the Internet: intimate photos, videos, VKontakte, Skype

There are a lot of ways to ruin the life of an ordinary “user”. Here are the most common:

Personal page on popular social networks has been hacked. In such a situation, the attacker gains access to all the friends of the page owner and, of course, to all photographs that he can use to achieve criminal goals.

For example , you habitually go to your Facebook page (in Contact, in Odnoklassniki, etc.) and see a message from an unknown user of the following nature: “Photos of an intimate nature have been found on your page. To prevent them from being sent to all your friends, send 3,000 rubles to a Qiwi wallet. If you try to block the user who sent you this message or file a complaint with the admins, the photos will be sent to strangers automatically.”

Often the victims of online extortion are former lovers who are blackmailed with the distribution of photographs or videos. In such a situation, the attacker can hide under someone else’s name or pose as his own, depending on the nature of the requirements.

For example , a man and a woman were in a long-term trusting relationship, recorded so-called “home videos” together, and took naked photographs of each other. After a breakup, a man (less often a woman) begins to take revenge and threaten to send images. The condition for non-proliferation can be not only the transfer of the required amount of money, but also other options: becoming a couple again, breaking up with a new man, etc.

Users of online dating may be the target of blackmail.

When you have met a charming lady who asks to exchange intimate photographs, it is quite possible to face threats of sending them to your friends. Moreover, such threatening messages are also common: “You just sent me an image of your genitals, I’m 13 years old, I’m forced to go to the police with a statement of child molestation if you don’t transfer money in the amount of 10,000 rubles.” At the same time, the discouraged man is sent screenshots of the correspondence that existed between them, confirming his firm intentions to provide all this to the police.

Video on Skype. A somewhat new method of extorting money from Internet users mainly affects young people and high school students.

Unexpectedly for the owner of a tablet (computer, smartphone), a charming stranger appears on Skype and asks to confirm authorization and add her to your contacts. It’s a rare young man who will refuse to chat with an attractive girl; usually this move works and now a nice stranger tells him that she was bored, broke up with her boyfriend and called a completely random Skype user, who turned out to be such a nice young man. Next, the conversation smoothly turns into flirting, followed by an offer of virtual sex. Immediately after the Internet love session is over, the girl leaves and leaves a message with the following content: “Your intimate video is recorded, if within 24 hours you do not send 15,000 rubles to your wallet (WebMoney, Yandex and other anonymous payment systems), I will send it people on your contact list."

What is sexual manipulation?

Girls, have you ever encountered sexual manipulation? Don't be afraid to tell your stories in the comments: all responses are anonymous!

Psychological manipulation is the influence on a person’s thinking and behavior for a specific purpose that is beneficial to the manipulator. For example, you may be manipulated into getting sex or, conversely, using intimacy as leverage. It is quite difficult to recognize a manipulator and fight back. I will give examples of the most common male and female manipulative techniques.

Male manipulation techniques

Usually guys manipulate girls in order to get the desired intimacy. To do this, use the following techniques:

“I am a man, I have needs!” Many representatives of the stronger sex justify their reluctance to control attraction by “nature.” Girls, know that a mature person is able to restrain his physiological impulses. Do you hear from a man about “needs”? They are trying to persuade you to have sex against your wishes!
“Experts and sexologists say...” After this comes any continuation that is beneficial to the man. For example, that “if you do not realize sexual fantasies, the risk of cheating increases.” A simple way to intimidate a girl by referring to an imaginary authority.
“But my ex...” Comparison with a competitor hurts your self-esteem. Of course, you will want to outdo your ex-girlfriend in every way. But think about it, do you want to constantly compete with the ghost of another woman?
“What, don’t you love me anymore?” Often guys demand sex from girls as proof of their love and affection. But this is nothing more than manipulation.

Women's techniques of manipulation

Girls also often become sex manipulators. But the fair sex usually uses intimacy as a way to influence a partner and get what they want: desired behavior, gifts. What does it look like?

Refusal of sex. “Punishment” of a guy if he has committed an offense.
Intimacy for “good behavior.” Another common manipulation using sex. When a man behaves “correctly,” he is rewarded with sex.
Delayed intimacy. A woman agrees to have sex, but only after fulfilling a number of conditions: for example, buying an expensive gift, paying for a vacation.

Manipulation and harmonious relationships are incompatible. But it’s even worse if a loved one begins to blackmail you using personal correspondence and intimate photographs.

Sex blackmail

Girls, have you ever sent your loved one explicit photos or an erotic video of yourself? If so, you risk becoming a victim of sex blackmail.

Both a partner (especially after a painful breakup) and a stranger who accidentally received sex photos can become a blackmailer. The blackmailer's intentions can be anything: from trying to persuade the victim to have sex to demanding payment of a certain amount of money. Let's figure out what to do if you are faced with manipulation and sex blackmail.

What responsibilities are provided?

Regardless of what the blackmail is used for - photographs, videos, correspondence of an intimate nature, such actions are always criminally punishable. Responsibility for this form of extortion is provided for in Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, where the punishment may be as follows:

restriction of freedom for up to 4 years;
imprisonment for up to 4 years with a fine of 80,000 rubles;
imprisonment for up to seven years (if the extortionists act as part of a group or extort more than 250,000 rubles);
imprisonment for up to 15 years (if an organized group operates or extorts more than a million rubles).

You should know that extortion is already considered over from the moment demands are made and threats are made to disseminate facts from a person’s life. So, if the attacker announced his intention to send screenshots of the correspondence to the victim’s friends, but did not do this, extortion as a crime has already been committed.

Let us add that the subject of threats must be such personal information, the dissemination of which actually harms the reputation of the victim.

The actions of attackers to hack email correspondence on the Internet (e-mail, pages on social networks) are separately classified - responsibility for this is directly provided for in Article 138 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of the secrecy of correspondence - punishment in the form of a fine of up to 80,000 rubles or community service).

If the extortionist nevertheless sent incriminating evidence to other persons, he must be additionally prosecuted under Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for violating privacy (punishment in the form of a fine of up to 250,000 rubles or imprisonment of up to two years).

Where to go

What to do if you are blackmailed in contact? Experts recommend contacting the police. To do this, we write a statement:

To the head of police department No. 0________district of ________ A.A. Molchanov, residing at ____________ (specify) Tel._______________ (specify)

STATEMENT

I ask that an unknown person under the nickname “Sergey” be brought to criminal responsibility, who, under the threat of distributing intimate photographs to my friends, demands the transfer of 20,000 rubles to a Qiwi wallet before 01/02/2016 until 24 hours.

A message of this nature was delivered to me at 23:20 on 01/01/2016 on the social network page in contact. The actions of an unidentified person can cause me significant harm, humiliate my honor and dignity, and violate my rights to confidentiality of correspondence.

On criminal liability for knowingly false denunciation in accordance with Art. 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation warned.

Appendix: screenshots of a contact page, screenshots of messages from an unknown person.

Molchanov A.A., date, signature.

The application should be taken to the police department at your place of residence. Any new information that appears to you after the statement (the criminal nevertheless sent racy photographs to your friends, new threats were received, the required amount has increased) will be useful for the police, since each time the extortionist “gets in touch” can help in establishing his location.

Of course, blackmailers almost always use a special program that prevents the IP address from being determined. At the same time, the blackmailer can be exposed if employees of Department “K”, investigating crimes in the field of computer information, manage to track the route of sending the messages.

If you contact the police, be prepared to testify about your personal life not only during the investigation, but also in court. You will have to go through the unpleasant moments of thoroughly studying the information that has become the subject of blackmail. The investigator will find out where the photographs were taken from, whether they were sent to the extortionist or whether he gained access to them without permission, whether friends know this person - the investigation of the case will not be complete without such procedures. It is likely that the compromising photographs used to blackmail you will be included as evidence in the case, therefore, they will be examined by a lawyer, public prosecutor, judge, secretary, etc.

Of course, not every victim has the patience and fortitude to go through this, so many prefer not to write a statement to the police and “not wash dirty linen in public.”

What happens if you don’t go anywhere?

In this case, there are two options - pay the required amount or simply ignore the threats:

if the user transfers money, usually the extortionist destroys all photographs, videos, etc., and disappears from his virtual life. At the same time, there are cases where blackmail is long-term and continues for years: periodically appearing online, the criminal demands again and again that amounts be transferred to his accounts for silence.
If you do not respond to threats, in 95% of cases they are carried out. If you are ready to go through the time when your acquaintances and friends will ask you about what happened and discuss your personal life, then completely ignoring the blackmailer’s letters is a suitable way out of this situation. In the end, all these unpleasant events will be forgotten and, perhaps, soon you will remember them with a smile.

What should you do if you are blackmailed in contact by contacting the police about sexual harassment of minors (when they report that you sent photos to a person under 18 years of age)? In this case, we strongly recommend contacting the police, thereby preventing a possible unfounded charge of a serious crime. Under no circumstances accept help from the so-called “Internet police,” whose services may be offered to you for a fee. Such a unit does not exist in law enforcement agencies and, quite possibly, the same fraudster is hidden behind this name.

What to do in such a situation?

If a girl has accused you of rape or is blackmailing you with this, you should take the situation seriously. Each case is individual, but you should always remember the possible consequences.

Don't ignore the problem. Indifference can cause anger and decisive action on the part of the imaginary victim. It is unknown what her psycho-emotional state is, and what she is ready to do to emerge victorious from this situation.

The procedure could be as follows:

start a dialogue.

There are always reasons behind blackmail or false accusations. Discuss the existing problems, find an alternative way out of the situation;

evaluate the requirements.

In most cases, the blackmailer pursues the goal of obtaining property benefits. If you are satisfied with her demands, fulfill them in exchange for a statement that she has no claims against you;

take care of your own protection.

Before the case reaches law enforcement agencies, think about how you can prove your own innocence and the absence of violence towards the “victim.” Provide yourself with an alibi and obtain all possible evidence of non-involvement in rape. In case of blackmail, try recording an incriminating dialogue with a girl using any audio or video recording device;

Use every opportunity to deal with the current situation as quickly as possible.

Ignoring threats can lead to legal proceedings, where the court will decide whether you are guilty or not.

How to avoid becoming a victim of online blackmail

Of course, no one is immune from hacking of pages on the Internet. And yet, by following some recommendations, you can significantly reduce the risk of others using your privacy:

make your profile on social networks “private”;
do not add unverified users to your contacts;
change your password periodically, choosing a complex combination;
never send intimate photos of yourself to strangers or those you just met (even if the person you are communicating with sent the photo first);
do not correspond on topics of intimacy online;
do not communicate and, especially, do not participate in video chats with strangers;
if your page is hacked, be sure to report it to technical support.

How to prove the fact of a threat

It is possible to prove the fact of blackmail on the Internet, but it is much more difficult to bring the extortionist to justice. The problem is that it is not easy to locate the blackmailer, since they change IP addresses very often and use different programs. But it is still possible to track the criminal.

Victims of blackmailers very often prefer to pay money and do not contact the police. This is due to the fact that in this case the person has to tell intimate details of his life and explain the reason for the blackmail. Even if it is not connected to another crime, it is always a big stress.