Newsweek

Online 'Sextortion' Is on the Rise

Sextortionists are hacking accounts and threatening blackmail victims for more.
Cases of "sextortion," a growing online practice in which criminals obtain sexual photos of their victim and then threaten to expose the images if the victim doesn't send more or comply with other demands, are on the rise according to two lawmakers trying to pass laws against the practice.
12_02_Sextortion_01

He threatened women from his apartment. And from a burrito joint. He even did it from a Lowe's hardware store. Ryan Vallee of New Hampshire, now 22, first targeted some of his high school classmates when he hacked into teenage girls’ email and social media accounts to steal naked photos of them, then threatened to post the photos online unless they sent him more sexual images.

After he broke into the Facebook and Gmail accounts of one teen in 2012 and stole sexually explicit photos, Vallee texted her,

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Newsweek

Newsweek1 min read
Flood Hopes Stall
Young men inspect the wreck of a vehicle among piles of debris swept along by waters in the village of Kamuchiri, located roughly 30 miles northwest of Kenyan capital Nairobi, on April 29 amid torrential rain and flash floods. Officials said at least
Newsweek14 min readWorld
Trouble in Paradise
ON A CARIBBEAN ISLAND JUST 220 miles from the shore of the U.S. Virgin Islands, a black-clad Chinese security guard swept an arm at more than a thousand acres of woodland and a glittering, aqua-green marine reserve beyond. “It’s like a small country,
Newsweek1 min read
The Archives
“At midnight on June 30, after 156 years of British rule, Hong Kong returns to China,” Newsweek wrote. “Hong Kong is one of the world’s freest places—free not just in its exuberant markets but liberated also in the attitudes of its people.” Despite a

Related Books & Audiobooks