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The scammer will request payments are made for things such as counseling for the alleged victim and to replace electronic devices that now contain child pornography. “If law enforcement gets involved early on, there are investigative steps that may help identify the perpetrators responsible for victimizing Army personnel.”Īnother way that the criminals attempt to extort money is to claim that they are a lawyer working on behalf of the alleged victim. “It is important to also keep in mind that law enforcement, to include Army CID, will never agree not take legal action if you agree to pay ransom money to the alleged victim or to the alleged victim's family,” he said. If you met someone online who later claims to be underage you should immediately cease all communications with that person and notify Army CID. “It is therefore very unlikely that you sent or received child pornography or provided your images/videos to a minor. “If you meet a person on a legitimate online dating site there is very little chance that you are actually communicating with an underage person,” Andrews said.

One recent scam is where the criminal will claim that the Soldier sent sexual images to a minor, who has now become the alleged victim, and threaten to report the Soldier to law enforcement unless a monetary fee is paid. Once the Soldier sends a compromising photo or participates in a video chat, the perpetrator threatens to send those images to the Soldier’s command, family, and friends unless “ransom money” is paid, according to CCIU officials. “These criminals will try to get unsuspecting service members to engage in online sexual activities and then demand money or favors in exchange for not publicizing potentially embarrassing information or turning them over to law enforcement,” Andrews said. In addition, when using a legitimate online dating site, victims are more apt to provide personal information and or participate in online “compromising acts ” however, CID officials are warning the Army community to be very cautious of their online communications activity and not share intimate, personal information with strangers or people you have never met in person. Officials describe “sextortion scams” as cyber sexual extortion where perpetrators conduct schemes that leverage online sexual acts for financial gain or other forms of blackmail. “Turn off your electronic devices and physically block web cameras when you are not using them.” “To avoid falling prey to a sextortionist, never send compromising photos or videos of yourself to anyone, whether you know them or think you know them,” said Special Agent Daniel Andrews, CCIU director.

Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Computer Crime Investigative Unit, or CCIU, continues to caution the Army community to be on the lookout for all types of “sextortion scams” where criminals will use any dishonest method to make contact with potential victims and then attempt to blackmail them.

Google hangouts whatsapp us army scammer pictures 2019