HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) – The FBI wants you to think twice before posting that selfie.
The bureau said they’ve seen an uptick in recent months in cases of “sextortion” – scams in which perpetrators threaten to release intimate or sexually explicit photos or video of a person unless they give in to their demands, usually money.
How are criminals able to obtain these kinds of images in the first place? Often, victims send it to them, willingly.
Many victims initially believe the person they’re getting scammed by is a romantically interested person on social media. Sometimes they’re even led to believe they’re in an online relationship with someone, and – because sending intimate photos is common in modern relationships – they send them such images.
And scammers don’t discriminate based on how old or young a person is. The FBI said they’ve received reports involving both nonconsenting adults and minors.
In fact, our investigative team has uncovered several such cases, including those involving minors, in the area court systems in recent months.
Scams like these have existed for years, however, recent advances in artificial intelligence technologies are giving bad actors a leg up. Scammers are able to use images of a person to create what the FBI calls “synthetic content,” or deepfakes.
This content often involves taking the face of a victim and applying it to an image of a naked body or person engaged in illicit activity. With no training in how to identify these kinds of A.I.-generated content, people can easily be misled to believe what they’re seeing is real.
Scammers are able to use publicly available photos shared on social media sites to create this fake content.
“Although seemingly innocuous when posted or shared, the images and videos can provide malicious actors an abundant supply of content to exploit for criminal activity,” a recent release from the bureau reads.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to be careful about what you post and who you talk to online. The FBI recommends tightening down security settings on the apps and devices you use. A full list of the FBI’s recommendations is included below.
For parents, they say to use discretion when posting images of your children, to monitor their activity online and to periodically search their personal information online.
You can use reverse image lookup tools like Google Images to search for pictures of yourself on the web (click the camera icon next to the search bar).
Full list of FBI recommendations:
- Monitor children’s online activity and discuss risks associated with sharing personal content
- Use discretion when posting images, videos, and personal content online, particularly those that include children or their information.
- Images, videos, or personal information posted online can be captured, manipulated, and distributed by malicious actors without your knowledge or consent.
- Once content is shared on the internet, it can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove once it is circulated or posted by other parties.
- Run frequent online searches of you and your children’s information (e.g., full name, address, phone number, etc.) to help identify the exposure and spread of personal information on the internet.
- Apply privacy settings on social media accounts—including setting profiles and your friends lists as private—to limit the public exposure of your photos, videos, and other personal information.
- Consider using reverse image search engines to locate any photos or videos that have circulated on the internet without your knowledge.
- Exercise caution when accepting friend requests, communicating, engaging in video conversations, or sending images to individuals you do not know personally. Be especially wary of individuals who immediately ask or pressure you to provide them. Those items could be screen-captured, recorded, manipulated, shared without your knowledge or consent, and used to exploit you or someone you know.
- Do not provide any unknown or unfamiliar individuals with money or other items of value. Complying with malicious actors does not guarantee your sensitive photos or content will not be shared.
- Use discretion when interacting with known individuals online who appear to be acting outside their normal pattern of behavior. Hacked social media accounts can easily be manipulated by malicious actors to gain trust from friends or contacts to further criminal schemes or activity.
- Secure social media and other online accounts using complex passwords or passphrases and multi-factor authentication.
- Research the privacy, data sharing, and data retention policies of social media platforms, apps, and websites before uploading and sharing images, videos, or other personal content.
