Protect Yourself from Cyber Extortion: How to Handle Calls from Unknown Numbers

2024-03-13 08:17:32

A new method of extortion has the Investigation police (PDI). These are calls from unknown foreign numbers, which They seek to capture the person’s profile image with whom a video call is being carried out, with the intention of using it improperly.

The commissioner John Valdengro Strap of the Metropolitan Cybercrime Investigative Brigade explained that when the call is received, No one will answer on the other side, but they will capture your image. Since this method operates through a computer system, there is no sender on the video call.

“Their objective is to capture an image of the victim to subsequently produce an artificial image, perhaps involving it in adult content, and with this purpose, they achieve extortion,” explained the PDI official.

Since the goal of cybercriminals is to obtain the image of the victim without any voice or sound being heard on the other side of the call, they persist in making massive video calls, seeking success if only a client accepts the call.

However, the threat does not end there. After obtaining the image of the victim, the cybercriminal initiates another contact through various means, such as messaging or email, to carry out the extortion by requesting a sum of money, which they prefer to receive in cryptocurrencies or another type of value.

What to do if you answered a call from an unknown number from abroad?

For this type of telephone scam, Commissioner Valdenegro provided two key recommendations:

Do not share profile photo: A recommendation that extends to all platforms is not to share the profile photo with contacts that we do not have registered.

Prior agreement: If the call is international, it is recommended that there be a prior agreement through another means of communication, such as email, to avoid sharing your personal image with unknown people.

However, if despite these recommendations, you accepted the call and your image is shared, From the PDI they advise approaching the nearest police unitfile a complaint and provide as much background information as possible.

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