A male student was shocked when his "online girlfriend" turned into a man and blackmailed him for sensitive photos

(Dan Tri) - Putting his faith in a romantic relationship for many months, a male student in Hanoi did not expect that his "online girlfriend" was actually a cover for a blackmailer.

Immersed in a staged love affair

A few months ago, a male high school student in Hanoi received a friend request from a female account on social networks.

The account's avatar is a young girl. The personal page has daily photos and statuses about study, life and friends.

What is worth noting is that there was no sign that this was a "virtual" account, so the male student quickly accepted to become friends.

The subjects' first step was to approach victims through fake social network accounts (Illustration: Viet Anh).

At first, the two just made small talk, asking about their studies, hobbies and daily life. However, the conversations became increasingly longer, from a few minutes to several hours every night.

After weeks of continuous texting, the male student gradually believed that he was having a real emotional relationship with the girl on the other end of the line.

One day, the girl sent the boy a link and said that the current application often encountered errors so switching to another platform would be more convenient.

At the new chat platform, the relationship continued to progress. The other person often asks questions, cares, shares personal stories and creates a feeling of closeness.

From a social relationship, the victim gradually falls into a well-orchestrated emotional trap (Illustration: Viet Anh).

Therefore, even though they have never met in real life, the male student still completely trusts and gradually forms an official love relationship with the person he is talking to.

After months of building trust, the girl suddenly suggested exchanging private pictures to "prove her feelings".

At first the male student refused, but with constant persuasion and promises from the other side, he finally sent sensitive pictures and clips.

“Mom, please save me”

Everything seemed normal until one evening, when the phone suddenly rang. On the other end of the line was no longer the familiar voice of a girl but the voice of a man.

This person called the male student directly by name and said: "I have all your uncovered photos and clips."

The male student was dumbfounded. Immediately after that, the subject sent a series of screenshots of previous conversations and private content that he had shared.

When the phone suddenly rang, on the other end of the line was no longer the familiar voice of a girl but the voice of a man (Illustration: Viet Anh).

This person requested to transfer 7 million VND, otherwise all photos and videos will be distributed on social networks. Not stopping there, the subject also threatened to send it to friends, relatives and people on the victim's friend list.

At first, the male student thought this was just a threat so he tried to ignore it. But a few days later, what I feared the most happened when a piece of private content appeared on a social network account with a large number of followers.

Accompanying those posts are threatening messages such as "this time I'll only warn you", "if you don't transfer money, I will show it to everyone".

From anxiety to panic, the male student almost did not dare to open his phone. Every time a new notification appears on the screen, I'm afraid it's a message from a blackmailer.

For many consecutive days, I silently endured and hid everything from my family out of shame and fear of being scolded.

Only when the subject repeatedly called, pressed to transfer money and threatened to continue spreading more images, did the male student realize he was no longer able to solve the problem on his own.

In a state of panic, she burst into tears and asked her mother for help: "Mom, help me."

Only when the subject repeatedly pressured him to transfer money and threatened to continue spreading sensitive images did the male student decide to share with his family (Illustrative photo: Viet Anh).

When the mother picked up the phone to answer, the subject continued to curse, threaten and demand money transfer.

The family then had to ask a tech-savvy acquaintance to help increase the security of their social network account, and set the account in private mode to limit the risk of the subject accessing their friends list and spreading the images.

However, the subject still threatened to continue spreading the clip in groups with many followers. Fortunately, despite the threats, the boy's family still decided not to transfer money.

In fact, there was another case of money being transferred upon request in the hope that it would all end. But not long after, the subject continued to contact and raised the amount of money demanded to a higher level, otherwise all the collected images would be distributed.

That shows that the scammers' target is not a single sum of money. When they realize that the victim is scared and willing to pay, they often continue to pressure them to ask for more.

Experts point out the telltale signs

Talking to Dan Tri reporter, Mr. Vu Ngoc Son, Head of the Technology and International Cooperation Department, National Cyber ​​Security Association, said that romance scams combined with blackmail using sensitive images appear more and more in the online environment.

According to Mr. Son, with this form, the first step of the subjects is to approach the victims through fake social network accounts, often using images of young, beautiful girls.

After making friends, the subjects proactively texted, paid attention, and asked questions to quickly establish a romantic relationship.

Once they have created trust and made the victim develop feelings, they will find a way to lead the conversation to more private content.

In some cases, the subject uses fake images or videos to create trust, then lures the victim into sending sensitive photos, clips or participating in private video calls.

"During video calls, subjects often use the screen recording feature or use specialized software to record all sensitive images along with the victim's clear face," Mr. Son commented.

At the same time, they will secretly collect a list of the victim's friends, relatives, social network accounts or school.

"As soon as they have many sensitive videos and images, the subject will change their attitude and begin threatening to distribute them if the victim does not transfer money," Mr. Son said.

Faced with this situation, experts point out some signs to recognize an unusual online relationship and signs of fraud.

One of the common signs is a social network account with a neat image but vague personal information, low actual interaction or not much activity in the past.

In addition, if a new acquaintance continuously expresses love after only a short time of chatting, uses love words too quickly, or always avoids meeting in person but is excited to send sensitive photos or make video calls, users also need to be cautious.

Mr. Son also noted that users need to be wary when the other person asks about school, address, relatives or friends list. This may be information collected for future pressure and blackmail.

Principles to avoid falling into love traps

To avoid falling into the trap, the expert offers three important principles. The core principle is absolutely not to take, record or send any sensitive images or videos of yourself to others online, no matter who they are.

Be especially careful when making friends with strangers online. Do not share too detailed personal information, school, or family list on public posts.

At the same time, students need to be equipped with the knowledge of sex education associated with cyber safety early on, clearly understanding that body image is a private property that needs top secret protection.

Mr. Son emphasized that if you unfortunately become a victim of blackmail using sensitive images, the most important thing is to stay calm and not transfer money at the request of the subject.

According to the expert, financial compromise does not guarantee that the images or videos will be deleted. On the contrary, the victim may continue to become the target of further extortion requests.

Instead, the victim needs to quickly collect and store all relevant evidence such as threatening messages, the bank account number to which the subject requested money transfer, the social network account used for communication, or the images and videos sent.

These data can serve the verification and investigation process of authorities.

Experts also advise victims not to suffer silently alone.

"Students need to proactively share the incident with their parents, teachers or trusted people to receive timely support and avoid making unwise decisions in times of panic," Mr. Son advised.

The victim and his family should promptly report the incident to the police, and provide all the evidence collected for handling.