Interpol has confirmed the dismantling of a transnational sextortion gang that raked in a whopping $47,000 from dozens of victims. As per Interpol, 12 people have been arrested for alleged involvement within the gang’s malicious actions.
Reportedly, the arrests happened between July and August 2022 after the conclusion of a joint investigation from Interpol’s cybercrime unit together with Singapore and Hong Kong police.
The company traced no less than 34 circumstances, all linked to the identical gang. The criminals principally focused individuals in Hong Kong and Singapore by way of on-line relationship and intercourse platforms.
“We carried out a proactive investigation and in-depth evaluation of a zombie command and management server internet hosting the malicious software, which, together with the joint efforts by our counterparts, allowed us to determine and find people linked to the felony syndicate.”
Raymond Lam Cheuk Ho – Hong Kong Police
Modus Operandi
To your info, sextortion is a type of sexual exploitation by which a goal is coerced into producing sexually specific content material by manipulation or threats. The victims would ship the content material to the criminals, which is later used to blackmail them.
In accordance with Interpol’s press launch, on this marketing campaign, the victims have been tricked into downloading an app to their gadgets to have interaction in bare chats, however the app contained malware designed to steal their contacts. The extorters would obtain the nude movies by the app and threaten to ship them to all their contacts if the sufferer didn’t pay the quantity.
Nonetheless, the sextortionists didn’t all the time depend on the identical modus operandi. Generally they spammed their victims with messages, informing them about secretly filming their intimate movies by way of their webcam. Additionally they used breached information like e-mail IDs and passwords to make their threats seem legit.
Interpol has noticed a pointy rise in sextortion complaints prior to now few years, primarily through the COVID-19 pandemic. Even a single intimate picture or video could make the sufferer susceptible to sextortion threats. The company urged victims of sextortion or different threats to cease contact with the blackmailers and share proof with the police. In any scenario, the victims should not pay the malicious actors, Interpol advises.
Associated Information
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- Chief of largest on-line sextortion ring ‘Nth Room’ jailed for 40 years
- Darkish net: Youngster abuse, real-life blackmailing website DarkScandals seized
- New sextortion rip-off claims to report you with hacked Google Nest cam
- Sextortion, Cyber Stalking: U.S. Embassy Official Going through 4 Years in Jail
