Abu Dhabi Police warned individuals against anonymous friend requests that reach them through social networking sites and dating applications, as they are a trap to trap victims in the trap of electronic extortion, calling for the need not to submit to blackmailers, not to respond to their requests or send any sums of money under threat pressure, and to communicate immediately. With the “Aman” service, which operates around the clock and in complete confidentiality.
She explained that electronic blackmail is one of the forms of cybercrime that is based on threatening the victim with publishing pictures or film materials or leaking confidential information, in exchange for paying sums of money, or exploiting the victim to carry out illegal acts for the benefit of the blackmailers.
Cases heard by state courts during the past years revealed several crimes that began with the victim accepting fake friend requests through social media without knowing the owner, which caused him to fall victim to the crime of electronic extortion.
One of the cases revealed that women lured an Asian man through a social network by announcing a “massage” service at an attractive price topped by a picture of a sexy European woman.
In another case, a young man was subjected to electronic blackmail from a man who impersonated a girl, and lured him from a communication site to an obscure application and photographed him in obscene situations, and another young man responded to a fake girl who claimed that her mother was sick and pushed him to send a large amount.
Individuals confirmed to “Emirates Today” that they receive several friendship requests repeatedly from social networking sites and applications from unknown persons outside the country, and dealt with them with caution and disregard, expressing their fear that their children might fall victim to such friendships.
(Abu Adham) said that he monitors friendship requests that come to his children’s phones through their accounts on social networking sites, pointing out that he always warns them against accepting friendship from strangers, dealing with them, or sending their personal photos.
Muhammad Syed stated that dating applications are widely spread, and teenagers accept them, and the majority of their members use fictitious names, and a person cannot ascertain the identity of who is communicating with him, and whether he is male or female, pointing to the importance of promoting community awareness of the danger of disclosing personal information or sending Pictures of these applications, as it may be a trap that exposes the person to blackmail in order to obtain money.
Others, who refused to be named, reported that they had established friendships with girls from outside the country on social media, only to discover later that they were just fake relationships, aimed at trapping them in the trap of blackmail and obtaining their personal information and data.
They warned of the danger of luring people through fake women’s accounts on social media platforms, as their goal is outwardly acquaintance, and inwardly extortion, and upon acquaintance, a live broadcast is opened with the camera and the victim is photographed in a disgraceful position.
Abu Dhabi Police revealed that among the reasons for committing cyber extortion crimes are weak religious faith, drifting behind fake relationships, frequenting suspicious websites, emotional emptiness, neglect in socialization, addiction to browsing social networking sites, and parents’ failure to monitor and care for their children.
She called on community members not to accept friend requests from strangers, not to post photos and private videos on social media, or to send them to unknown people, and to beware of dating sites and applications, as they often start to hunt victims.
And she warned individuals against accepting friend requests from anonymous people through social media platforms, and being attracted to seductive images that may be a trap, stressing the importance of verifying the identity of the sender.
It is worth noting that the penalty for electronic extortion, according to Article 16 of Federal Decree-Law No. 5 of 2021 regarding combating information technology crimes, is imprisonment and a fine of no less than 250,000 dirhams.
The law stipulates that whoever blackmails or threatens another person to get him to do or refrain from doing an act, using an information network or a means, shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and a fine of no less than 250 thousand dirhams and not more than 500 thousand dirhams, or with one of these two penalties. information technology, and that the penalty shall be imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, if the threat is to commit a felony or to assign matters disgraceful to honor or consideration.
suspicious sites
Abu Dhabi Police warned individuals against sharing personal information and responding to any conversation from an unknown source via social media, providing him with personal data, information or photos that may be used in electronic extortion, avoiding entering suspicious sites, and being careful when dealing with strangers or unidentified people. And not to accept contact with them and trust them or to send photos or private and sensitive data.
And she urged parents to follow up on their children and educate them about not accepting friendships from unknown people, and the danger of sharing their photos and data through websites, social networking and electronic games, and educating them on how to act when falling into the trap of extortion.
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