Teenagers, who are more active on social networks than older ones, face increasingly violent threats on the networks.
Fraudsters first try to get in touch with an individual through a Facebook account or other similar platform and issue threats in order to get paid.
“We were paid to murder you […] I want you to listen carefully […] We have a network all over the world. In order not to endanger your life, we advise you to cooperate with us”, received Laurianne Courchesne, 15, on Instagram.
The teenager who lives in Sorel-Tracy agreed to “sell” her photo since a woman claimed to want to use it to make a portrait. However, the check sent by the lady to Laurianne was fake, and the threats soon followed.
“I was very scared, underlines the one who called the police. Be careful on social networks, because there are people who want us badly, ”she told the Journal.
According to Jeff Horncastle, awareness officer at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center (CAFC), the phenomenon is frequent and the criminals tend to target the youngest.
“Unfortunately, it is mainly young adults and, in some cases, teenagers who are targeted. It’s very serious, he insists. We always advise not to send money because it won’t stop, “warned the agent during an interview with the Journal.
“In some cases, they will really send very violent photos and photos of guns to intimidate the person,” said Mr. Horncastle, saying he did not want to share examples in pictures because they are “too violent”.
In 2021 alone, 361 fraud reports were recorded. Since the beginning of 2022, 364 reports of extortion have already been counted.
Additionally, in June alone, there were over 100 reports of “sextortion”. On average, 57 reports of “sextortion” per month are reported to Cybertip.
It should be noted that events of this type also occur frequently without the person concerned filing a complaint.
“I do not communicate my password, I pay attention to [courriels]“Said a woman interviewed by TVA Nouvelles regarding her solutions to protect herself from fraud attempts.
Another suggests paying special attention to “.com” if links are shared between two individuals. “Make sure it’s a legitimate website,” he said, in English.
