Sexual threat takes the lead in the perpetrators 'means ... and the victims' ages range from 18 to 25 years (1-2)

"Electronic blackmail" ... victims of "emotional whims" in the face of "scandal hackers"

The widespread use of social media, chatting apps, and electronic games has made it easier for extortionists to hunt down their victims and compromise their private lives.

With the increase in digital communication imposed by the Corona pandemic, extortion operations included victims of all ages, cultural and social levels.

After catching their victims, the "blackmail pirates" do not hesitate to threaten to publish pictures or videos or to leak calls that they recorded and kept, unless they pay them money or acquiesce to their sexual demands.

The matter may go beyond these demands to charging them with crimes.

The Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi reports that it recorded 1589 cases of electronic blackmail in the emirate, during the period from 2017 to last September.

According to specialists, cases of extortion are often the result of the emotional whims of the victims, noting that the cases that are not reported for fear of scandal and the outlook of society, are not less than 80% of the total actual cases.

State courts have examined many cases of electronic extortion, in which the victim is often a female, as the perpetrators hunt their victims, women and girls, through social media, after accusing them of admiration, love and the desire to bond.

As for men, they get involved through friend requests from fake women's accounts, or advertisements for massage sessions.

Sanaa, a 20-year-old young woman, did not realize the extent of the pressures under which the victims of extortion were subjected, until after she met a young man through Twitter, whom she had an emotional relationship with, who made her delusional as a Gulf official and drowned her in illusions of wealth.

On the impact of his sweet words, and his constant promises to her to marry, she started sending him private photos and videos, but after a few months she discovered that he was not a Gulf as he said, and that he assumed a name different to his real name, and that he resides in the country illegally, so she decided to cut her relationship with him She asked him not to contact her again, and it did not take him long until he showed her his true face, as she says, as he threatened her to expose their relationship, and to publish the pictures in his possession, to defame them on social media, asking her to transfer money to him, and she acquiesced to his threat for fear of Scandal, which encouraged him to continue blackmailing her.

(Sana) said that she continued to send him money, and resorted to the bank after her savings ran out, bringing the total sums he received from her to 700,000 dirhams.

She justified the reason for her silence and submission to blackmail by saying that the photos and videos reflect their emotional attachment, and if her family and acquaintances saw her, a major scandal would have occurred.

When she ran out of money, and she had no way to get extra money, she decided to report it to the police.

She soon discovered that the solution was in front of her eyes all the time, but her shame prevented her from trying, as the police arrested the blackmailer and transferred him to the court, where he received a sentence of three years imprisonment and a fine of 500 thousand dirhams, in addition to confiscating the phone used in the crime, and deporting him from The state after performing the penalty.

In another story, "Leila" recovers the details of her occurrence in the blackmail trap through a person who claimed that he has the ability to treat diseases with herbs. She sent him 10,000 dirhams and a set of pictures to describe the appropriate treatment for her.

She said the blackmailer asked her to send other pictures of her so that he could locate the pain.

When he asked her for more money, she refused his request, so he threatened her with publishing the pictures that she sent him for treatment, and she found no solution except to file a complaint against him.

She said that the police succeeded in tracking him down and arresting him.

As for "Raghad", her story began with blackmail, saying that she did not know the blackmailer, except that he was able to penetrate her accounts on social media, copy her conversations with her friends, and private pictures and videos from her mobile phone, and threatened her to inform her husband, and to publish pictures on social networking sites if She refused to meet him.

She said that the blackmailer sent her pictures from conversations that took place between her and others as a means of pressure to meet him. Otherwise, he published the pictures and sent them to her husband, and she found no way to solve the problem except to resort to the police.

In a third story, Shanna Adchi reveals that she was blackmailed by a friend she met on a chat site, as their relationship strengthened after he promised to marry her.

When I realized that he was not serious, I decided to stay away from him. However, he created an account on the Facebook site, uploaded their pictures and videos that they collected on him, and he always repeated, by way of threat,: «Do not make me angry».

"He put me under a severe threat," she says. "I couldn't stand it, so I told the police in the end."

Ayman Nizar was surprised by his 10-year-old daughter, who told him that someone spoke with her through chat rooms in one of the famous electronic games, and asked her to photograph herself without clothes, and to send him pictures in exchange for giving her money through which she could increase her points and balances in the game, and enable her to run Stages of competitions with better performances, so quickly to inform the police.

The competent authorities tracked down the troll and arrested him, and found in his possession about 200 pictures of more than 10 children, whom he was planning to blackmail and harass them.

The victims of electronic blackmail are not limited to women and girls, as it has been trapped by mature men and women of different ages and cultural levels.

A high school student (Abdullah), and this is a pseudonym, tells a story about him being assaulted by a blackmailer, and how he hunted him through a friendship request that he connected to a chat site from a fake account in the name of a girl.

He explained that the phantom girl kept courting him until she persuaded him to send pictures and videos in obscene conditions, then revealed her true personality, and it turned out that she was an Arab youth.

He added that the blackmailer obtained money from him, met him more than once, and harassed him while he was with him in his car, after he threatened to publish his pictures and expose him.

With his threats and requests to meet and be alone with him, he decided to inform the police, who arrested him, and charged him with the felony of forced indecent assault and threatening a person with attributing honorable matters, using the means of information technology.

(Jamal), 40, recounts that he was browsing social networking sites, and he was stopped by the advertisement of a massage center offering great discounts on sessions, which encouraged him to call and book.

He remembers feeling a great humiliation after being hunted down through advertising, being lured and robbed under duress, filming naked, and being blackmailed by two women.

"The incident began when I contacted a woman on a social media application who offered massage services, and gave me an address," Jamal says.

And I discovered that there were two women, one of whom had taken disturbing pictures of me with the other, and then threatened to publish the pictures if I did not obey them and give them what I have of money.

The Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi reports that it recorded 1589 cases of electronic extortion in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from 2017 to last September.

According to the department's statistics, sexual threat was the most common type of blackmail, while the age group most targeted for electronic blackmail was from 18 to 25 years old.

The department confirmed that women are the most reluctant to report their exposure to blackmail, despite dealing with complete confidentiality with all cases, noting that the "Inform the Prosecution" application, which allows the public to report their exposure to cybercrime or extortion, has become more effective and receives reports. It exceeds what is presented in police stations, because it allows for the possibility of submitting the report in secret, or requesting that the problem not be referred to the judiciary.

The department identified the most prominent methods used in electronic blackmail, according to recent statistics, with pictures, audio recordings, video clips, e-mail, and social media applications, warning that the response of the victim to the perpetrator means that he was able to achieve his goal, but some victims report directly, and ask for help, which is better. What can be done.

It called on community members in the event of being subjected to extortion to report to the police or the competent judicial authorities, and to communicate with the various electronic services in the country, which allow the submission of electronic communications such as the 'Notify the Prosecution' system of the Public Prosecution in Abu Dhabi.

It also warned against transferring any sums of money, in response to the perpetrator’s demands, or disclosing credit card numbers, in addition to refusing to yield to the perpetrator’s demands or achieving his goals.

She indicated that electronic blackmail results in high crime rates in society, and the spread of mental illnesses, due to the victims' suffering from pressure.

8 caveats to avoid falling into the trap of blackmail   

The Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi has identified eight caveats to avoid falling victim to electronic blackmail, including not trusting unknown people through social media sites, not giving any personal data to unknown sources by e-mail or phone, avoiding video chats with unknown people, and not entering pornographic sites or any Suspicious sites (dating and chatting sites), not giving smart devices for maintenance except to an authorized agent or trusted shops, not sharing personal data and information through social media sites, and taking advantage of warnings and instructions provided by the relevant government agencies in this regard, in addition to the family's role in enhancing the confidence of its children Correct use of electronic programs and applications, not complete denial of them.

Effective procedures

The Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi confirmed the existence of cooperation and partnership with the "Facebook" company, which owns several social media applications, in dealing with cybercrime and combating extortion, through effective measures to protect victims and restore hacked accounts, in addition to controlling the spread of images and videos that use a method Extortion, in cooperation with the Communications Regulatory Authority within the country.

The chief prosecutor in the department, Abdullah Hamad Al-Mansoori, stated that the judiciary operates within the jurisdiction articles that allow for a case to be filed against the perpetrator and his legal prosecution within the state.

In the event that he is outside it, the endeavor is to protect the privacy of the victim by directing her to report a breach of the account, and assisting her in communicating with the company that manages the application or site.

Al-Mansoori confirmed that the department, in cooperation with the Communications Regulatory Authority and Facebook, as the owner of the most famous social media platforms, discussed the legal and practical problems facing the investigation of cyber crimes, and extortion crimes in particular, pointing out that the company showed its interest and provided lines of communication. Hot to surround these crimes, by providing the competent authorities with the perpetrator's account ID, to control the matter as much as possible, and to access it to prevent the publication of images or clips that use a method, and to return the hacked accounts, under certain conditions.

• Victims of electronic extortion, including young men and mature men, as well as women and girls.

• A blackmailer hacks into his victim's phone, copies her private conversations and videos, and threatens her to inform her husband.

• A blackmailer who pays his victim to take refuge in the bank ... The victim loses 700,000 dirhams because of "shame" ... and trying to avoid scandal.

• 1589 cases of electronic extortion were registered in Abu Dhabi between 2017 and last September.

•

80

% of

cases of extortion that go unreported, for fear of scandal.

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