Cops Warn Of Internet-Extortion Scams

BERKELEY, CA – University of California at Berkeley police are warning the campus community about Internet-based photo and video privacy extortion scams.

Campus police said reporting those types of scams to authorities may help direct resources to combating the problem, but people should also know that it can be difficult to identify and hold accountable the suspects in any specific scam.

They added that recognizing and avoiding those types of schemes may be the most effective way to fight that kind of crime.

In one type of scam, UC Berkeley police said, the suspect uses social media, a dating website or a messaging app to find potential victims and gather their personal information.

The suspect initiates a conversation that leads to a request to share nude or sexually explicit photos or video.

The suspect saves any images the victim shares and then demands money by threatening to send the images to the victim's contacts.

A similar scam, which police said usually is a hoax, involves an email from someone claiming to have accessed a person's computer remotely and capturing images of them while they were visiting a pornographic website.

The suspect then threatens to share the alleged images with others if people don't pay.

Police said that to avoid those types of scams, people should keep their social media contact lists and personal information settings as private as possible and carefully evaluate unexpected social media requests and messages.

They also said it's a good idea to use strong passwords, update them frequently and use different passwords for different services.

UC Berkeley police said scam perpetrators likely will continue to make threats if people meet the first demand for money and eventually release the images when victims stop cooperating so they don't recommend making any payments.

Police said victims should end the communication and block or restrict the suspect's access to their social media accounts to whatever degree this is possible.

They said victims also should preserve any information about the suspect that they might have, such as messages, identifying information and images, in case they decide to file a police report.

University police said campus resources for helping victims deal with the stress and anxiety caused by video and photo extortion scams include the PATH to Care Center, counseling and psychological services, employee assistance counseling and the Gender Equity Resource Center.

They said people can also contact the Federal Trade Commission and the California Office of the Attorney General.

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