Brave teen's powerful warning about 'sextortion' after he was conned out of £800 for getting naked on webcam
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A brave teen is warning others about the long-lasting effects of 'sextortion' after a hacker recorded him naked and threatened to 'ruin his life'.
The 16-year-old, from the UK, says he was conned out of £800 - but that the money he lost is nothing compared to the psychological impact of that night.
Jacob, who goes by a pseudonym for legal reasons, has spoken to Avon and Somerset Police about his ordeal as the force offers advice on how to avoid becoming a victim yourself.
The teen was in his bedroom at his family home over the Christmas school holidays when he got bored.
He went on a website where you can chat to strangers over webcam and met a ‘girl’ who piqued his interest.
He says he could see her and she could see him, and she talked him into doing explicit things on-camera.
The mystery girl then asked for Jacob’s contact details, saying it would make it easier to chat. So he gave her his phone number.
But that is when things took a more sinister turn.
Once they began messaging, Jacob says he was sent a link to an explicit video of himself, which appeared to have been recorded through his web cam.
Then his phone started to ring.
He answered.
It was a male voice on the other end.
Jacob described how he felt in that moment: “The guy was so aggressive on the phone. He said he was a pro hacker.
(Image: iStockphoto)
"He sent me a list of all my Facebook friends and said ‘I will ruin your life’.
"My heart was beating out of my chest.
"I was shaking.
"I remember looking at myself in my bedroom mirror thinking ‘what have I done, what have I done? I went into panic mode and kept thinking about the worst case scenario - all my friends and family and people at school seeing the video and looking at me differently.
"I just wanted to stop it. I asked him what he wanted.
“I didn’t care about the money, all I could think about was trying to prevent that video getting out.
"I could earn the money back but I didn’t think I could get my reputation back as easily.
"You hear about this stuff happening but there’s nothing that can prepare you for it.
"It felt like he was in total control.”
(Image: iStockphoto)
Jacob set up a fake account on a money transfer service and says he immediately transferred £800 to the man.
He then shouted for his sister, who was downstairs at the time.
“I thought, no matter what happens, I’m going to have to tell my family about this at some point, so I may as well tell them now," he said.
Jacob’s sister called the police on non-emergency number 101, as well as calling their parents and asking them to come home immediately.
His mum said: “I just walked in and gave him a big hug.
"We did everything we could - closing down his social media accounts, changing his phone number and we gave him a stern talking to.
"But he’s suffered enough for his mistake and he’s now working hard to earn that money back.”
(Image: Universal Images Group Editorial)
Forces across the UK have received more than 2,000 reports of sextortion in the last two years, but many cases will go unreported.
Joanne Bocko, cyber protect officer for Avon and Somerset Police, said: “What happened to Jacob is called sextortion.
"It’s where someone uses a sexually explicit image or video of their victim as leverage to blackmail them and to make demands.
"This kind of criminal preys on people’s vulnerabilities.
"It’s a very cruel crime which can ruin people’s lives.
"That’s why for us, protection and the welfare of the victim is paramount.
“To prevent this kind of thing happening in the first place, we’d advise not going on webcam with a stranger or giving personal details to someone you don’t know (such as your full name, telephone number or email address).
"And while we see victims of all ages and genders in many cases reported to us the victims are men aged 18-29.
(Image: Getty)
"So if you have relatives or friends in this age group, why not tell them about Jacob’s story and warn them of the dangers?”
Anyone who has fallen victim to the crime can follow this advice from police:
1) Don’t panic. You’re the victim in this and you’ll need support to help you through this difficult time, so call us immediately on 101 – we’ll deal with it in confidence and we won’t make any judgements on your behaviour;
2) Don’t pay. Even if you give money to the person making demands, there may be continued requests for larger amounts of money. This money will then likely be used to fund the organised crime groups who commit these types of crimes.
3) Don’t communicate any further with the offender. Get screen shots of communication and keep any evidence which could help us with our investigation. We can help with more specific advice over the phone, once you’ve reported it to us.