Posted on 01/31/2022 1:27:16 PM PST by nickcarraway
Men have been twice as likely as women to fall victim to online blackmail since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a study published Monday by the journal Victims & Offenders found.
This includes threats to publish explicit photos, videos and personal information, the researchers said.
Young people, Black and Native American women, and LGBTQ individuals also were at higher risk for being victims of this form of cyber-crime called "sextortion," the data showed.
"Recent research has highlighted gender disparities in unpaid care work and household-related work since the start of the pandemic," co-author Asia Eaton said in a press release.
"It is possible that men had more time to spend online than women during the pandemic," said Eaton, an associate professor of psychology at Florida International University in Miami.
The findings are based on a survey of more than 2,000 adults in the United States conducted in 2020 and 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Eaton and her colleagues said.
Sextortion is a form of extortion in which the blackmailer threatens to publish explicit, private images or videos online unless their demands are met, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The blackmailer often is a current or former partner, but they also can be a stranger who has hacked into a victim's online photos or webcam or an online dating scammer, the law enforcement agency says.
Reports of sextortion to the FBI rose during the pandemic, when many people remained home due to work and school closures and turned to online social platforms, particularly among teens.
The researchers asked 2,006 survey respondents if they had ever been a victim of sextortion, defined as "the act of threatening to expose a nude or sexually explicit image" in exchange for payment or sex acts.
Of male respondents, 4.5% said they had experienced sextortion since the start of the pandemic, compared to 2.3% of women, the data showed.
Black and Native American women were around seven times more likely to be victims of sextortion than White women, the researchers said.
LGBTQ respondents had an up to three-fold higher risk for being victims of sextortion compared with heterosexual individuals, according to the researchers.
More than 5% of respondents ages 18 to 29 years reported being victims of sextortion, compared with 4% of those ages 30 to 40 years and 3% of those ages 41 to 64 years, the data showed.
Respondents who were victims of sexual violence by a partner before the pandemic were up to 17% more likely to experience sextortion during the pandemic, the researchers said.
Sextortion was most commonly perpetrated by strangers and romantic partners, both current and former, they said.
"Sex education programs that teach about consent, pleasure and healthy relationship communication and decision-making may reduce both in-person and technology-facilitated sexual violence," Eaton said.
Ive been trying to sell my explicit photos and videos since way before the pandemic. No luck.
Minorities hit hardest.
Idiots hit hardest.
At my age I’d be happy to be blackmailed.
PARKING LOT SCAM: BEWARE!
Please BE WARNED! Over the last month I have become a victim of a clever ‘Eastern European’ scam whilst out shopping.
Here’s how the scam works:
Two very good-looking 20-21 year-old girls of eastern European origin come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the trunk. They both start cleaning your windshield, their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T- shirts. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they’ll say ‘No’ and instead they ask you for a lift to another supermarket. You agree and they both get in the back seat.
On the way there, they start undressing, until both are completely naked. Then, when you pull over to object, one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over your lap, kissing you, touching you intimately and thrusting herself against you, while the other one steals your wallet!
I had my wallet stolen on September 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, 24th and 29th. Also on October 1st, 4th, 6th, 9th and 10th and twice yesterday. So please warn all the older men you know to be on the lookout for this scam.
The best times seem to be just before lunch and about 4:30 in the afternoon.
Oh, and Walmart sells wallets for $5.
No you don’t. Last week, nearly got robbed in the Norton/Life Lock refund phishing scam. It didn’t help I was recuperating from Covid. Kudos to my better half, big time.
I keep an empty wallet in my back pocket just to be safe!
At least you wasted some of his time and got his hopes up
I try to waste as much of their time as possible.
One would think the real companies would go after them.
Thanks for the hilarity!
Watching 90 day fiance confirms this.
What is that and how does it apply?
LOL
I got an email a few years ago threatening to publish sexual stuff about me. I told the dude to bring it on. I knew I was clean and I showed the extortion letter to my wife.
Anthony Weiner agrees.
You too? I keep getting teased that they will send out what I do when they are watching on webcam. Always wanted to be a porn star is my response. I ask them how much I will have to pay them to release it but I want to see a preview to make sure it does me justice.
The duuuh these idiots express when hit with that is epic.
I got a call from India asking me to turn on my web cam. I have yet to back hack them, but there are some real idiots on the other side so it will happen. Their aunties are not going to be happy with them.
Makes me happy that idiots are world wide and it is not just some of our countrymen on the coasts.
I hadn’t heard of that one. I’m usually leery of emails, but I’ll be watching for that one.
It’s a tv show about people who get K1 marriage visas. Desperate horny people getting scammed out of their money. It’s unintentionally hilarious.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.