Pongauer (20) was blackmailed for more than 60,000 euros with intimate photos

For more than two years, a man from Pongau transferred money to unknown women he met in a chat room. In total, the 20-year-old lost a proud amount of 60,000 euros. Since May 2022, he met several unknown female chat room users. Communication then shifted to other social media.

The ladies tricked the Pongauer into taking and sending intimate photos of themselves. The trap arose: they then demanded money from the man so that the photos would not be published. The 20-year-old complied with these requests and transferred amounts of money to various accounts.

The Pongauer also bought voucher cards and sent them to the unknown perpetrators. In total, the man communicated with 22 unknown women and made 528 transfers.

The Salzburg Police and the Federal Ministry of the Interior inform:

• Do not accept the extortionists’ demands and do not pay

• Cut off contact with the woman or the blackmailers and remove them from your friends list. Do not respond to contact attempts.

• If the blackmailers have published any images or video material, contact the platform administrator and request their removal.

• Set up a Google alert with your name. This will notify you of new photos and videos uploaded on your behalf.

• Save all evidence. This includes the image or video material with which you are being blackmailed, the contact details of the chat partner and the blackmailer, all messages, transaction data and the like.

• Report it to the police.

• If you feel that the blackmail is putting too much pressure on you, talk to someone you trust about the incident or seek psychological help.

How can you protect yourself from sextortion?

• Don’t accept friend requests or social media invites from complete strangers. Block or ignore messages from strangers and report questionable requests to your ISP.
• Keep in mind that you can always be filmed during video chats and adjust your actions accordingly.
• Always turn off or tape off your webcam when you are not using it.
• Talk to those around you about this blackmail method to warn friends, acquaintances and family.
• Keep your social media accounts private.
• Share and publish content wisely. The more information you reveal, the more vulnerable you are to sextortion and other blackmail.
• Be especially careful if someone wants to communicate on a different platform than before.
• Pay attention to your safety online. Use secure and private browsers that protect your digital identity and hide your online activities from prying eyes.
• Use strong passwords to protect your personal information.

What is sextortion?
The word is made up of ‘sex’ and the English word ‘extortion’ = blackmail and describes a form of blackmail in which the perpetrator threatens the victim with publishing nude photos or videos of the victim, for example to ask the victim to pay money. to enforce.