Upper Moreland Police Warn Of Social Media Extortion Scam Targeting Teens
UPPER MORELAND, Pa. (CBS) -- Upper Moreland police want parents to be aware about a social media extortion scam targeting teens.
The Upper Moreland Police Department is investigating at least three incidents in which teen males were contacted on Instagram by someone pretending to be a female. The conversations then moved over to Snapchat -- where shared photos disappear -- and naked photos were exchanged. The teens were then told to send money or the photos would be distributed to their contact list. The teens sent the money but the photos were distributed anyway.
"It used to be more prevalent among women being extorted and being used in this way and recently there's a sudden uptick in juvenile boys," InfoStream, Inc. CEO Alan Crowetz said.
If you're wondering why boys are being targeted more and more by online pedophiles and scammers, it's simple.
"They tend to be more gullible in many ways and once they're reeled in there's the fear of exposure and the extorters tend to be able to get more and more from them and just keep dragging them deeper into this horrifying situation," Crowetz said.
Crowetz shared some tips for parents to be proactive in preventing their kids from becoming prey.
"There's a couple things. Number once, awareness -- what you guys are doing right now -- getting the word out there. I don't think parents realize just how bad this is and what the risks are, particularly parents of boys. A lot of parents that have boys aren't worried as much about the boys and yet they are just as much, if not more of a target these days," he said.
There's much more than just making yourself aware.
"Depending upon the age of the child you should be able to look at their phone, look at their computer. See what they're doing all the time. A computer should be in a public area," Crowetz said.
If your kids don't have personal mobile devices but they play console or computer games online pay attention.
"Even if they're not on social media, most games have chat features and those are very common ways these kids are being targeted," Crowetz said.
Crowetz says that having this uncomfortable talk with your kids is as important as the birds and bees talk our parents may have had with us.
He wants parents to communicate with their kids, educate them to the dangers online and remember to maintain your access to their devices to stay on top of what they're doing.
