Electronic Blackmail : The biggest danger in the new digitalized world

As explained in this article on extortion laws on the Internet, extortion and extortion are closely related, but they are different crimes. However, there are a number of additional laws that cover online extortion, and there is an additional law that provides for further recourse claims for the victim.

What does the term extortion mean: extortion is an attempt to extort something from the end, be it property, money or services. In cyber extortion, the perpetrator typically threatens to capture, damage and / or release the victim's electronic data such as passwords, credit card numbers, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and other personal information.

Cybercriminals can launch denial of service attacks by sending thousands of messages at once to a company's website, according to the FBI.

He then threatened a tabloid that he would reveal scandalous details about his client unless he paid $10,000, the FBI said.

These actions are not only fraud but also criminal racketeering, "the FTC said. Fraudsters will try to intimidate victims with threats and high-pressure tactics to get instant payments. They are trying to blackmail victims with bitcoin passwords that will give them access to the coins.

Another way in which criminals try to extort money is to claim that they are lawyers working on behalf of the alleged victim. In an affected version of this scam, the criminals contact the victim and threaten to ruin the career of the service member or arrest him if he does not pay the ransom. Another method of extortion used by criminals using this method is to claim that the criminal is a "lawyer" working for the victims. The agency encourages anyone who comes across this program to report it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C., as well as local law enforcement agencies. Some criminals claim there are underage victims, according to an FTC report.

A large number of Australians have been affected by an email sextortion campaign in which the cyber fraudsters responsible have threatened to release personal and sensitive information if they are paid in cash or Bitcoin. The fraudster will ask the alleged victim to hand over his personal information and replace all electronic devices that are now said to contain child pornography. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has warned Australians to be on alert for the scam after receiving more than 1900 reports of the emails since April 9.

The e-mail scammers may contain full or partial passwords used by the recipient in the past. They can also claim to have compromised computers and other electronic devices and contain a list of complete and partial password hashes for the computer or other devices.

The extortion process usually begins with establishing a friendly relationship with the target person, particularly by enabling the exchange of photos or videos, and then luring them with money, gifts, or other forms of financial or emotional support. The blackmailer uses the content as a threat and demands the transfer of money or the disclosure of confidential data or actions that violate public ethics. Sextortion is a form of extortion in which the perpetrator threatens to give intimate pictures of someone to friends and family if they do not pay a ransom, usually $1,000 to $5,500 or more. Talking is offensive to the victim and can cause serious damage to his reputation and reputation.

Omani law defines extortion as the threat or coercion of a person to do something wrong - against their will - as a form of punishment against them. Blackmail presupposes that the person willingly and knowingly sends the message as an element of the crime. The message does not have to reach the intended recipient and the request is not granted, but it must be sent to commit the crimes of extortion.

Badger Game is a blackmail scheme often used against married men, in which the victim is deliberately forced into a compromising position and then threatened with public exposure of his actions until extortion money is paid. The scam is said to have its name from the state of Wisconsin or the Badger State, where it allegedly originated and became popular.

The penalty for extortion depends on the extent of the violence used to extort money or other property, as well as the nature of the victim's relationship with the extortionist.

If you feel you have been the victim of an attempt at blackmail, how do you deal with the threat of blackmail? Remember, as always, that the most effective way to prevent blackmail and extortion is to report the alleged crime immediately. Once the criminal recognises that you are willing to pay, he will make further demands, siphon off your cash and continue to harass you. If you agree to pay, it will only make matters worse, but if you don't, the criminals will take cash from you and trap you financially.

Cited Sources:

https://www.reputationdefender.com/blog/privacy/what-are-different-types-internet-blackmail 
https://www.ita.gov.om/itaweb/CEO/Page.aspx?svc=657&Odt=34&Post=37&ID=10212 
https://www.cyber.gov.au/news/sextortion-email-campaign-impacting-australians 
https://m.reolink.com/protect-yourself-from-extortion/ 
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/insuring-against-ransomware-and-other-cyber-extortion-4060470 
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/extortion 
https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-email-scams-2020/ 
https://www.army.mil/article/218103/army_cid_warns_of_internet_sextortion_scams