the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, over the last several years, the NJCCIC reported on sextortion scams in which victims were threatened with the release of compromising or sexually explicit photos or videos of the victim if an extortion payment was not made. Threat actors may use social engineering tactics to lure their victims via email, text message, or direct messages on social media or dating apps, and they may pose as potential love interests to build trust, communicate their story, and profess their love in an attempt to convince their victims to divulge information or send money. Other campaigns included claims that the threat actors successfully compromised the victim’s computer or mobile device and were able to take compromising screenshots or recordings of the victim that were sexually explicit in nature, further threatening to release them if an extortion payment was not made. These campaigns may appear convincing, but these threats were not credible as threat actors were unable to provide proof of the compromised photos or videos.
