Keep your details safe, never give facebook, phone or any accounts where they can access personal details, friends lists etc etc
Lock down your FB accounts etc so everything is private between you and friends only.
If they cannot identify you or anyone to blackmail you against or share your images then you should be safe. But people willing to cam with others etc is where the danger lies
Having been a victim a few years ago when I got complacent and gave a regular email address for a MSN Messenger chat, I dropped my guard and got snared by Romanian scammers.
Chat seemed quite normal, girl claiming to be called Emma from Leeds
Good lookin woman on other end of cam so you think all is good, we all know how things can progress there...few minutes later she says, here, take a look at this. Uploaded to various fileshare sites, you tube etc etc is a video of me in all my glory so to speak.. Next they're showing screenshots of all my friends on facebook with them sending those weblinks of the video to each and every used, demanding money for them to stop. As the news reports say to be paid via Western Union. And tagged along with those videos are words no man ( or woman ) ever want to be associated with.
So whilst you are not and have done no wrong....these scammers will twist it and really could fuck up someones life and reputation.
It's all very well the police saying things can be done, the videos can be removed. They can upload and share them far far faster than they'll ever be removed.
In my case they were shared literally within 2-3 minutes.
There was a Horizon or some documentary a few weeks ago that highlighted a problem were some Arabs had been targeting children/young teenagers with a very similar scam, and this caused a few to take their own lives. The perpetrators didnt even seem to be wanting money, they just enjoyed the torture.
There are some very sick and devious people out there, be safe. If you're going to cam or swap photos...find a way to do it anonymously. Dont use a personal email that in any way links to your normal life, dont wear clothing visible in any photos that may me traceable to work etc
In some ways I was lucky, it cost me a few hundred quid and it did go away. Some people on my friends list did receive the messages but luckily the video had been removed by that stage but one person did query what it was about. And it was a work colleague.
Closing the account after they already have your details, at least in my case made no difference as they already had my friends list saved, that's all they needed, a way to share the video.
A slightly more humorous take on cyber security/internet privacy to lighten the mood, Troy's Cyber Hijack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5agwL6RBXU |
