More and more young people are reporting to us that they have become victims of a “sex trap” on the Internet. A young woman entices boys, but also girls, to undress in front of a webcam or to perform sexual acts on themselves. Then blackmail ensues.
Many affected boys or young men, but also girls and young women contact us because they are being blackmailed after a “sex-skype” and do not know what to do.
This is how the blackmailers proceed
The contacting can happen anywhere. It doesn’t matter if it’s WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook or even in online games. A girl or young woman makes contact and starts a chat, e.g. after you have been saved by her in a game situation. Often, after only a few chat messages, they suggest going into a video chat, e.g. directly into WhatsApp or even onto Skype. Sometimes, however, it takes longer for them to suggest this.
In the video chat, the young woman then usually shows herself half naked right away and continues to undress. The boys and young men, but also again and again girls and women, are then asked to undress or satisfy themselves. Many go along with this because it is exciting. In addition, many feel safe because both sides show themselves intimately.
But beware! The supposedly female chat partner is often only played from a tape and is a decoy. Short video sequences are played again and again, but they are so well done that you have the feeling you are dealing with a person who is actually in front of the webcam. In reality, a gang of fraudsters is behind it. If you go along with it and undress yourself, it will be filmed. The sex trap snaps shut. This is also called sextortion.
The erotic mood changes abruptly. The victims receive a message asking them to transfer money within a short period of time. The scammers threaten to publish the video otherwise, e.g. forward it to Facebook friends or parents or put it on YouTube.
Sometimes an email is sent to the victim with an access code or link to a YouTube video that is not yet publicly accessible. In it, the victim sees the video that was recorded of him and is asked to pay. This is supposedly the only way to prevent the video from being released to the public.
The younger the victims are, the more likely it is that no money is demanded, but further sexual acts in front of the camera are demanded. However, to our knowledge, this is happening less and less often.
Girls and young women are also affected, but they are also contacted by women.
Caught in the trap
Many are ashamed and afraid to seek help. This is a clear case of blackmail! Often those affected do not dare to talk about what has happened to them. With us you get support completely anonymously. There is no shame in falling into a trap. Blackmail is not OK and it is forbidden! Often it is just an attempt to get money by scaremongering without actually publishing the videos. Don’t be intimidated and get support!
Unfortunately, even stopping the video chat immediately does not protect you 100%. Sometimes the short recordings that the perpetrators have are used to then edit the person into a video as if they were watching someone else masturbate. Even if you were still fully clothed yourself.
TIP — Caught in the trap – what to do?
- Break off contact immediately. End the video chat immediately. BUT: Secure evidence and take screenshots of the blackmail chat, for example.
- If possible, report the person to the respective network (Instagram, Facebook, …) and then block them. Attention, if you block first, you often cannot report the profile again.
- DO NOT pay! Experience shows that paying does not protect you from being published. On the contrary, further demands follow afterwards and the blackmail does not end!
- Don’t let yourself be blackmailed into further sexual acts in front of the camera!
- Set Google Alert: This way you will be notified if something is uploaded with your name, e.g. the blackmail video. To do this, go to Google Alert and enter the name that the blackmailers know of you.
- If you actually discover the video of you on a platform, contact the operators of the site immediately. Facebook, for example, deletes videos with sexual content very quickly. You can also use our direct line to Facebook. We also know from YouTube that such videos have been deleted again.
TIP — File a complaint
If you dare to file a complaint against the attempted scam, the police can take action and also help other potential victims. Think about which trusted adult can support you in filing a complaint.
Protect yourself!
Many people make friends online. Among nice people on the internet, however, there are simply enough people who want to rip you off. It is worthwhile to have a basic distrust of people on the internet. Above all, it can save you from many embarrassing and unpleasant situations!
TIP:
- If someone you’ve only known for a short time on the internet tries to talk you into a video chat very quickly, it’s usually a sign that something is wrong. This is different from going into a sex chat with someone you know well.
- If you go for it, turn on your webcam later than your chat partner.
- Remember, everything you do in front of the webcam can be recorded or screenshotted by the other person.
- If your chat partner starts to undress immediately, all your alarms should go off and you should stop the chat immediately or never follow the requests to undress yourself when your webcam is on!
- Report the user on the social network where you were contacted. This way others can be protected.
What if the video is actually published?
Experience so far shows that it is not possible to say exactly whether the blackmailers actually publish the video or send it on. Most of the time they don’t, but in some cases they do. So you can’t really influence whether that happens. Neither paying the money demand nor negotiating, discussing or threatening protects against publication. The good news is that YouTube or other platforms delete such videos very quickly when they become aware of them.
There is no question that the fact of a possible publication seems quite disturbing at first. It can be helpful to know that you are not the only one to whom this has happened and how others have dealt with it. The forum Scam Survivors offers exactly this possibility. There you can read what has helped other victims and exchange information with them.
Thinking about who you could confide in can be relieving. Even if it is hard to tell a good friend, it often feels better to share what is bothering you. In many cases you get more understanding and support from friends than you would have expected.
It may help you to think about how you will react if someone asks you about the video. This way you can prepare yourself for such a case and the whole thing becomes more controllable for you. For example, you could say with a self-confident attitude that you fell for an international blackmail gang, like many other young men/women in Austria.
If you want, we can also discuss with you in our counseling services how you can react if you are approached about a published video.
You can find the most important information on this topic in this YouTube video:
For further help and support — Speak with a licensed therapist today.