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A 21-year-old man with German-Iranian citizenship has been charged in Germany with allegedly targeting dozens of children and teenagers online over several years, encouraging them to harm themselves and, in some cases, to take their own lives. The charges relate to actions said to have taken place between 2021 and 2023. Prosecutors allege that the suspect, identified as Shehriar J. under German privacy regulations, contacted more than 30 minors, most of them between the ages of 11 and 15. Using the online alias “the White Tiger," he is accused of hiding his true identity while building relationships with the young...

WASHINGTON — The powerful House Oversight Committee is investigating a sadistic, nihilistic terror cult known as “764” that preys on minors and coerces them into sex acts, self-harm, animal torture, and other vile actions. Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Federal and Government Reform Law Enforcement Chair Clay Higgins (R-La.) demanded Tuesday that the FBI give lawmakers a briefing on its efforts to undermine 764. “Reporting indicates the FBI has opened more than 250 investigations tied to the group, which preys on children and teenagers on popular online platforms,” Commer and Higgins told FBI Director Kash Patel...

An elderly former Ohio State University professor allegedly murdered his wife — and then tried to kill himself and his dog — after a woman he met on a dating app threatened to release nude photos of him in a $15,000 sextortion sting, according to police. James Hill, 76, of Upper Arlington, told cops he felt he had no other way out after the unidentified woman threatened to release the embarrassing pics unless he paid her $15,000 in Apple gift cards, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Hill stabbed his wife, Mary Kathleen Hill, 64, in the chest with a kitchen...

A cyber group known as “Purgatory” is behind a terrifying spree of AI-enhanced swatting calls on college campuses — and experts urge authorities to catch up to “internet speed” to stop it. Between Aug. 21 and Aug. 25, at least 10 universities across the US were thrown into chaos after fake active shooter calls sent armed federal and local law enforcement agencies to lockdown campuses, launching students into full-blown panic. The calls have since been linked to Purgatory, a group of cybercriminals who use AI tools to replicate sounds of screaming and gunfire while on the phone with local authorities,...

DENVER (KDVR) — Police are warning of a so-called “sextortion” scheme against Aurora students, dozens of whom have been targeted with blackmail on social media. Students have reported that the scammers contact them through Instagram, the Aurora Police Department said on Monday.“A scammer could threaten to post explicit material on the internet or social media unless they receive money from their targeted victim. Sextortion could also involve sharing sexually explicit images with others in exchange for money,” the release said. In six cases out of Aurora, the students said they were direct targets of the sextortion scheme after someone reached...

Those mails reach people from said breach, and they then see talk of somebody “knowing” their login details. That’s then used as leverage to claim the attacker has access to their PC, files, folders, webcams, browsing history—in a nutshell, anything personal and sensitive. The scarier they can make it sound, the better. In fact, one of the more eye-popping claims is that the scammer has video of the user viewing adult websites, and they will share this video with all the user’s contacts unless they pony up and pay a Bitcoin ransom.

You have 2 days (48 hours) to pay. (I have a special code, and at the moment I know that you have read this email). If I don't get bitcoins, I will send your video to all your contacts, including family members, colleagues, etc. However, if I am paid, I will immediately destroy the video, and my trojan will be destruct someself. If you want to get proof, answer "Yes!" and resend this letter to youself. And I will definitely send your video to your any 11 contacts.

SUFFOLK Police are investigating allegations that a 13-year-old boy blackmailed as many as six girls into performing sex acts. At least one of the girls - a student at John F. Kennedy Middle School - told police last month that she sent nude photos of herself to the boy and that he turned around and threatened to forward the images to his friends if she didn't do what he wanted, according to court documents. She said he coerced her into performing oral sex on April 10 on a school bus. When detectives looked into her story, they learned about five...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Federal prosecutors in Indianapolis said a Maryland man accused of extorting teens into online sexual favors has agreed to plead guilty. U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett called a Wednesday afternoon news conference to discuss additional charges against 20-year-old Trevor Shea of Mechanicsburg, Md. Prosecutors filed three counts of sexual exploitation of children against Shea on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. Shea already had faced a similar charge filed last year. Court documents said the new offenses involving four girls occurred after Shea's initial arrest. Federal prosecutors have coined a nickname for the crime: sextortion. Prosecutors said that's...

Parents will be reeling over the latest case of "sextortion" in the news. Sextortion is blackmailing a person over sexual pictures or videos that are on the Internet. A 10-year-old boy put a nude video on YouTube for a few minutes. He thought emails requesting nude videos were coming from girls his own age. After taking it down, he received more emails for more nude videos. When he put them off, they said they would turn him into the FBI. One email threatened to send the video to all of his friends. He sent no more videos and his mother...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The nightmare began with a party: three teenage girls with a webcam, visiting an Internet chatroom and yielding to requests to flash their breasts. A week later, one of the girls, a 17-year-old from Indiana, started getting threatening e-mails. A stranger said he had captured her image on the webcam and would post the pictures to her MySpace friends unless she posed for more explicit pictures and videos for him.......