Increase In Teen Boys Targeted for Extortion on Social Media

[DLgal]

And I still think the more important lesson is that kids have to be able to come to you with horrible shameful stuff. Of course I don’t expect it, and of course I‘m teaching. But I’m also not naive enough to believe that every lesson I gave will sink in 100% of the time. If my child is feeling so horrible about anything that they are considering suicide I hope the most important lesson I taught was that together we can fix things.

One can teach both things. I am not advocating a single prong approach here.

 

[MamaMermaid]

Heartbreaking.

 

[dez1978]

I always have wondered why ppl take those sorts of pics with their faces in them in this day and age. I know kids and adults will still take pics and send them despite knowing it's a horrible idea. But at the very least, don't have your face or identifyable items in them. Then you have at least some deniablility in cases where there are threats.

This is a horrible situation and there is a special place for those who did this to that boy.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Anyone who exploits someone like this is a blackmailer and a criminal

 

[sam_gordon]

I always have wondered why ppl take those sorts of pics with their faces in them in this day and age. I know kids and adults will still take pics and send them despite knowing it's a horrible idea. But at the very least, don't have your face or identifyable items in them. Then you have at least some deniablility in cases where there are threats.

This is a horrible situation and there is a special place for those who did this to that boy.

I'm guessing even if a teen sends a pic with nothing identifying in the picture, the criminals/scammers will say there's data that isolates it to your phone. EXIF data can give a LOT of information, and there's probably even more with a cell phone pic.

 

[dez1978]

I'm guessing even if a teen sends a pic with nothing identifying in the picture, the criminals/scammers will say there's data that isolates it to your phone. EXIF data can give a LOT of information, and there's probably even more with a cell phone pic.

I don’t doubt that but most of the bullies are high school kids themselves. They aren’t that good lol. But even if they can tie it to your phone, they still can’t say it’s you if there isn’t any bodily identifiers

 

[NotUrsula]

According to the FBI, most of the criminals who pull this particular stunt are professionals; this is what they do for a living, and they typically go after thousands of victims a day; if they can get just 5% to fall for it they can make a lot of money. Some of the time they actually already have a pic or two because they've been hacking webcams, and they often hang out on gaming sites where they can record dialog to use that sounds "right" to US teens. Beyond that, they are usually adults; kids who try it usually are not smart enough to keep quiet about it, and they get caught quickly.

American teens in particular are vulnerable to blackmail because of our strict child pornography laws; it's easy to convince a kid that photos they took of themselves can get them sent away forever for possessing kiddie porn. (Which is not to say that the laws are bad, they are not. It's just that teens are so scared of being tarred with that particular brush that extortionists find it easy to take advantage of that fear.)

BTW, FWIW, every mounted device webcam in our house has a basic manual slider cover on it; I buy them by the box. Most people put their phones down flat, so a hacker will get a great pic of the ceiling, but upright cams in a bedroom can be a goldmine if hacked; they can give you a view of all sorts of things. A manual slider costs pennies, and the best hacker in the world can't defeat it.

 

[MrsPete]

Every school I've worked at internet safety is ALWAYS taught and discussed MULTIPLE times. In large part they just don't get it or care.

Yup. When it comes to things like this, teens don't believe it -- unless they've personally known someone who was somehow "burned". They seem to think it's adults trying to ruin their fun.

Because no teenager has ever done anything their parents told them not to do? Why are we assuming the teen wasn’t told? Kids are impulsive and their brains aren’t fully developed. A lot of parenting is hoping to god they listened to all the warnings and lessons.

I was going to say something about immature brains.

 

[sam_gordon]

I don’t doubt that but most of the bullies are high school kids themselves. They aren’t that good lol. But even if they can tie it to your phone, they still can’t say it’s you if there isn’t any bodily identifiers

I didn't say they'd be able to get the data, but they could easily CLAIM they have it. These are criminals, they're not above lying.

 

[smokeyblue]

I didn't say they'd be able to get the data, but they could easily CLAIM they have it. These are criminals, they're not above lying.

OP here. The extortionist had already sent the explicit material to one of the young man's friends. The friend told the young man's parents after he found out he had died. You are right, these are criminals, professional ones at that.

 

[dez1978]

I didn't say they'd be able to get the data, but they could easily CLAIM they have it. These are criminals, they're not above lying.

I know they aren't above lying, but as I said, if there is nothing in the pic that identifies you, who cares if they can prove it came from your phone. That doesn't mean it's you. If people are going to take the pics anyway, and we know they are, be smarter about the kind of pics they take. That was my only point.

 

[LSUmiss]

That's kind of a heartless thing to say when a teen has just committed suicide. "If his parents did a better job, this never would have happened." Really? Why would you assume that the parents didn't teach him that he shouldn't share explicit photos?

I would be willing to bet that a kid who has had it drilled into him over and over to never do such a thing is the exact kind of kid who would be so distraught at the threat of his parents finding out that he had done something that they find so unacceptable that he may believe that suicide would be his best option.


And that is exactly the point. Kids (and adults) do stupid things all the time that they know they shouldn't and have been taught better.

In fact, I would say his parents probably did teach him & that’s part of why he didn’t feel like he could tell them. I think the better advice here would be to tell your children that they can always come to you no matter how much trouble they’re in.

 

[Moliphino]

In fact, I would say his parents probably did teach him & that’s part of why he didn’t feel like he could tell them. I think the better advice here would be to tell your children that they can always come to you no matter how much trouble they’re in.

They need both. Try to prevent your kids from getting in a bad situation in the first place AND make sure they know that if they do mess up they can come to you for help.

 

[lifesavacation]

Undeveloped brains and hormones sometimes make teens do stupid things. We’ve always told our kids not to take these kinds of photos, but that doesn’t mean they’ll listen. So we also went with the advice to never include your face. If you can’t make safe choices, at least be smart while doing it.

Kids today have a unique environment. Not having grown up with cell phones and internet, as a parent, I’m probably not as savvy as I should be. So many more complicated pitfalls. The parents for sure share no part of the blame here.

 

[RamblingMad]

Another reason why women outlive men. It takes us until 25 until our brains are developed enough to be rational. And men take far more risk than women.

I don't see how a parent can do much here besides cutting off their kids. They can tell their kids what not to do. But there is no guarantee the kid will follow the advice.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-men-often-die-earlier-than-women-201602199137

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/