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Child Porn Accusation As Online Extortion Tactic

Posted by timothy on from the sounds-like-an-fbi-method dept.

Glenn writes "There's a story on silicon.com about a new twist in the tactics used by online extortionists trying to blackmail ecommerce sites with denial of service attacks. Yesterday one blackmailer threatened to send out child pornography emails in UK gambling site Blue Square's name if it didn't pay up 7000 Euros." This sounds even worse than simple DoS threats.

5 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. Whatever happened to "Laws" and "Rules"? by Enigma_Man · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I thought they were supposed to prevent stuff like this... or is it a matter of "once the crime's been comitted, the damage is done permanently" so the law can't possibly compensate enough for the loss? Also, does it being probably international screw up the judicial process?

    -Jesse

    --
    Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
  2. heh by JeanBaptiste · · Score: 5, Interesting

    sounds just like an idea i had for a virus about 5 years ago. (no, I didn't write it).

    The virus would load a couple of nastypics onto the victims machine, then send out an email to the FBI. The first virus that would get you arrested.

    It was just an idea, I have never written a virus that has been let loose into the wild...

  3. Sigh, so many scumbags and thugs. by turnstyle · · Score: 4, Interesting
    It just makes me wonder sometimes if anonymity on the Internet protects way more scumbags and thugs than it does free speech.

    And, it scares me miserably that I would even think about that as a tradeoff.

    --
    Here's what I do: Bitty Browser & Andromeda
  4. Joe Jobs. by SeanDuggan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sounds like a fairly standard Joe Job such as has happened with DarkProfits. Only difference being here, they're actually extorting on the threat rather than simply trying to damage someone's reputation. Thing is, this could be very damaging. When it comes to child pornography, people tend to get very irrational and seldom check for any form of proof or second opinion. It's kind of like being accused of being a child molester IRL. Even once you prove your innocence, no one will quite look at you the same again and some people will never truly believe your innocence. Heck, the more squeaky-clean of life you lead, the more guilty you may seem to them. After all, you must have something to hide.

    --
    This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
  5. Risk vs Reward ? by vhold · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The guy doing the extorting now has to actually have child porn and has to send it himself. The risk if he gets caught is -way- greater then if he were just cooridinating simple DDOS attacks. He'll get all kinds of scrutiny from all kinds of groups that oridinally wouldn't bother. If he's in some totally untouchable country, he's in the unique position that now if the locals find out they'll probably actually care.

    I think the extra risk this behavior exposes the perpetrator to will go a long way to self regulate this trend.