Scammers regularly try to trick people over the phone and out of their money. The target of the telephone and Whatsapp scam artists are mostly older people. But again and again a scam is used that is aimed primarily at young men.
Hildburghausen/Sondershausen/Bad Salzungen (dpa/th) - Fraudsters keep trying to blackmail young men in Thuringia by threatening to publish nude photos or videos. Most recently, a 19-year-old from Sondershausen reported to the police in October and reported blackmail. It received news via Instagram that there was a video of him showing himself naked. If he does not want this to be shared and published, he should pay 9,000 euros, according to the police. Young men in Bad Salzungen and Hildburghausen were also supposed to pay large sums in October and September. Otherwise secretly recorded videos would be released. The police call it "sextortion".
In most cases, as in Bad Salzungen, the men meet young women on dating or other platforms, who quickly intensify contact with them. Before long, they're asking her to send sensitive photos or share sexual acts on webcam. They record these sexual acts. "Once this has happened, the course of the conversation quickly changes from soft wording to tough demands," the police said in a statement.
It's not a new phenomenon: In Thuringia, between April and August 2018, 139 cases of "sextortion" were reported. Police warn against pursuing claims for money. "In most cases, the extortion doesn't stop after the payment has been made," the Thuringian police said. Affected men should save the chat history with a screenshot and report to the police.
According to a police spokeswoman in Thuringia, the so-called grandchild scam and the scam with fake chats via Whatsapp are much more common. Nevertheless, similar dynamics are at play here. For many seniors, as well as many young men, shame plays an important role in the decision to go to the police. The number of unreported cases is therefore unclear.
