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☆ Match Group CEO says he has empathy for victims of romance scams but 'things happen in life'
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Romance scams typically targeting baby boomers and older generations are becoming increasingly popular on dating apps and websites, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Just last year, the FBI's Internet Crime Report estimated that Americans lost more than $650 million to romance scams. Bernard Kim, CEO of Match Group, spoke with CBS News on the growing threat of online romance scams carried out by people overseas. Match Group — which owns Match.com and Tinder — is the largest online dating company in the United States. Match Group did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: —, Bernard Kim, Kim, Grady Judd, Judd Organizations: Service, Federal Trade Commission, Business, FTC, Match, CBS News, CBS, Match Group Locations: United States, Polk County, Florida

☆ WhatsApp lowers minimum age in Europe to 13
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Anna Cooban | Eve Brennan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Social media giant Meta has lowered the minimum age required to use WhatsApp in Europe to 13 from 16, sparking criticism from children’s rights advocates. The new minimum age of 13 was also announced for users in the United Kingdom in February. Vicky Ford, a UK lawmaker from the ruling Conservative Party and member of a key government committee on education, called the decision to lower the minimum age without speaking to parents first “irresponsible,” PA Media reported. Meta under fireMeta has been roundly criticized in the past for its push to lower age restrictions across platforms in the United States. Last year, the company said it was planning to reduce the minimum age for its virtual reality app from 13 to 10 years old, despite pressure from US lawmakers not to market such services to younger users.

Persons: —, ”, Daisy Greenwell, “, Vicky Ford, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Europe — Meta Organizations: London CNN — Social, Conservative Party, Media, CNN, European Commission, Meta, Facebook, Europe — Locations: Europe, United Kingdom, United States

☆ Instagram to crack down on teen sextortion
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The company announced on Thursday it is testing new features to curb an alarming trend called financial sextortion, which often targets kids and teenagers. Once the nude images are sent, the scammers claim they’ll post them online, either on public websites or on newsfeeds where their friends will see, unless the victims send money or gift cards. In the upcoming weeks and among a subset of users, Instagram said it will roll out various new features, such as blurring nude images sent in direct messages and informing users when they’ve interacted with someone who engaged in financial sextortion. But the FBI recently said it has seen an increase in financial sextortion cases from strangers, often started by scammers overseas. Meta said it is also working on ways to identify accounts that may be engaging in sextortion scams by detecting and monitoring likely sextortion behavior.

Persons: Instagram, they’ve, ” Antigone Davis, “ It’s, sextortion, Meta, Meta Meta, ” Davis, “, ” Organizations: CNN, FBI, National Center for, Meta, Tech Coalition

☆ FBI: 'Financial sextortion' of kids is escalating. What parents can do
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect comments attributable to Chris Hill, an NCRI board member and chairman of the Police Athletic League, a nonprofit youth development group.

Persons: Chris Hill Organizations: Police Athletic League

☆ Why dragging tech CEOs in front of Congress might mean something this time
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. But his consistent criticism of some of the real issues happening in Big Tech has sometimes reminded me of a classic Clickhole headline: "Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made a Great Point." Section 230 is controversial and has become a rallying point for some conservatives and others, who think it allows Big Tech to hide from criticisms that it isn't fair to all sides. Clearly, these big platforms haven't succeeded — sometimes motivated by a whole bunch of internal factors, including profit. AdvertisementBut if there were some magic bullet to stop child exploitation, I truly believe the companies would've used it by now.

Persons: —, Sen, Josh Hawley, Hawley, Mark Zuckerberg, flay, Sundar Pichai, Zuckerberg, Utah Sen, Orrin Hatch, Zuckerberg blinked, Meta, sextortion, Marsha Blackburn, Wednesday's, there's Organizations: Service, Big Tech, Republican, Business, Twitter, Google, Facebook, Street, Meta, ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation Locations: Big, Missouri, Utah, Florida, Tennessee

☆ FBI: 'Financial sextortion' of teens is a 'rapidly escalating threat.' How parents can protect their kids
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Cavan Images | Cavan | Getty Images"Financial sextortion," a type of cybercrime that targets teens and tweens, is on the rise. "Sextortion is a rapidly escalating threat," FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee in December. Financial sextortion is the fastest-growing crime targeting children in North America and Australia, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute. Wealthy parents are more likely to be lenient about social media use. How to protect your kids from sextortion

Persons: Christopher Wray, Sen, Dick Durbin, Criminals, Tracy Kitten, Kitten, didn't, Oladosu, sextortion Organizations: Getty, FBI, Finance, Network, Research, Yahoo Boys, Meta, Strategy, U.S, YouTube Locations: Cavan, North America, Australia, African, U.S, Nigerian, bitcoin, sextortion

☆ Opinion: Mark Zuckerberg’s extraordinary apology should only be the beginning
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Opinion Kara Alaimo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —On Wednesday, the chief executives of Meta, TikTok, X, Snap and Discord testified before the Senate about what they’re doing to protect kids from harm online. In the leadup to the testimony, tech companies announced new initiatives to protect kids. The Stop CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) Act of 2023 would make it possible to hold tech companies civilly liable for hosting child sexual abuse material. This would be an important way of incentivizing tech companies to do more to protect kids from sextortion and other forms of online exploitation. Tech companies also have a lot more work to do.

Persons: Kara Alaimo, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok’s Shou Chew, Democratic Sen, Dick Durbin, Snap’s Evan Spiegel, X’s Linda Yaccarino, Discord’s Jason Citron, Kara Alaimo Durbin, “, —, ” South Carolina Republican Sen, Lindsey Graham, Chew, Yaccarino, Spiegel, Zuckerberg, it’s, Taylor Swift Organizations: Fairleigh Dickinson University, Women, Press, Facebook, CNN, Meta, Senate, Democratic, Illinois, ” Senators, ” South Carolina Republican, Tech, Media Locations: ”

☆ Wizz, a Tinder-like app aimed at teenagers, removed from Apple App Store and Google Play
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Ben Goggin | Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Wizz was removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play this week. Wizz, a social media app growing popular among teens in the U.S., was removed from the Apple app store and Google Play this week. A Google spokesperson said that the Wizz app was suspended from Google Play, the online store for Android apps, on Tuesday. "But if the app store doesn't continue to carry it, they cannot sustain, let alone grow, their user base." Wizz declined to say what steps it would take to try to get reinstated on the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Persons: Wizz, Goldman Sachs, Adam Sohn, Alex Goldenberg, Goldenberg Organizations: Apple, Google, National Center, Sexual, NBC News, Network, Research, FBI, Meta Locations: U.S, French, Miami, United States, North America, Australia

☆ South Carolina lawmaker Brandon Guffey is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —About two weeks after his oldest son’s funeral, South Carolina state house Rep. Brandon Guffey says he received a private Instagram message with a laughing emoji. Then Guffey and his younger son began to get messages demanding money in exchange for nude photos of his late son. South Carolina State Rep. Brandon Guffey in an undated photo with his wife, Melissa, and their sons, Gavin, 17, Coen, 16, and Callahan, 4. Minutes before he died by suicide in July 2022, Gavin Guffey sent his brother and friends this text message. South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Guffey, right, has lobbied hard for tougher penalties for sextortion scammers.

Persons: Brandon Guffey, Gavin Guffey, Guffey, Gavin, Melissa, Coen, Callahan, they’ve, Gavin Guffey texted, Gavin texted, Henry McMaster, scammers, Brandon Guffey “, ” Guffey, “, ”, ‘, “ Meta, It’s, ” Douglas DePodesta, ” Gavin Guffey, Jordan DeMay, Ryan Last, sextortion scammers, I’m, they’re, “ They’re, he’s, He’s Organizations: CNN, Meta, South Carolina State Rep, Gov, FBI, United States Attorney’s Office, Western, Western District of Michigan, Facebook, Rep, sextortion, Communications Locations: South Carolina, “, Rock Hill , South Carolina, Venmo, Memphis, United, Western District, Nigeria, Marquette , Michigan, San Jose , California

☆ What is catfishing and what can you do if you are catfished?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Sen Nguyen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

In the US, romance scams resulting from catfishing have among the highest reported financial losses of internet crimes as a whole. A 2019 study found that young LGBTQ+ men in rural America experiencing catfishing on dating apps felt angry and fearful. She also emphasized the need to recognize today’s loneliness epidemic, which “leads people to perhaps be more susceptible to catfishing scams,” she said. Catfishing is not explicitly a crime, but the actions that often accompany catfishing, such as extortion for money, gifts or sexual images are crimes in many places. In the US, romance scams resulting from catfishing have among the highest reported financial losses of internet crimes as a whole.

Persons: CNN —, Nev Schulman, “ Megan ”, Schulman, Evita, scammers, Catfishing, Snapchat, ”, Ngo Minh Hieu, Chong, Hieu, Wang, “, It’s, Fangzhou Wang, ” Wang, Maryna, WeChat Organizations: CNN, Cybersmile Foundation, Federation University, Fraud Intelligence, INTERPOL, Research, US Federal Trade Commission, SMS, University of Texas, Arlington, Getty, Facebook, UNICEF Locations: Alaska, Australia, Singapore, Southeast Asia, France, Germany, India, cryptocurrency, Vietnamese, America, catfishing, China, Cybersecurity, Australian

☆ Sextortion is fastest-growing crime targeting minors in North America – and social media companies can do more to stop it, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

NCRI, a nonprofit, found cybercriminals used the social apps Instagram, Snapchat and Wizz to find and connect with their marks. And social media platforms should include a distinct category to report sextortion — as Snapchat did in early 2023. Parents and educators should "combat the belief that photos sent on Snapchat disappear, which can create a false sense of security," the NCRI study recommends. The NCRI study also strongly criticized Wizz, concluding: "Sextortion on Wizz is pervasive and dangerous. Apple's App Store and Google Play can also help, the NCRI study suggested, by carefully monitoring complaints about sextortion associated with social media apps, and enforcing their existing policies.

Persons: cybercriminals, Wizz, Paul Raffile, Alex Goldenberg, TikTok, Scribd, sextortion, Snapchat, Goldenberg, screenshotted, General Raúl Torrez, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, — Kevin Collier, Ben Goggin Organizations: Yahoo, Network, Research, FBI, Yahoo Boys, NBC News, CNBC, NBC, Secret Service, Facebook, YouTube, Meta, gov, National Center for Locations: North America, Australia, West Africa, Michigan, Wizz, New Mexico, U.S

☆ X is left with advertisers pushing dubious cryptocurrency and AI 'undressing' apps, users say after Musk's outburst
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some X users are complaining the site is overrun with ads pushing crypto and AI "undressing" apps. Social media experts say an advertiser exodus has left X reliant on less reputable buyers. AdvertisementElon Musk's war on advertisers seems to be having some unintended consequences for X. Business InsiderOther suspect advertisements have been spotted on the site, with users also complaining about a surge in ads on their timelines for "undressing" apps. "It also shows the race to the bottom that the X platform has fallen into," he added.

Persons: Elon Musk, —, Elon, xqCDa7Ilgm, kevin harrish, Jeff MacDonald, Mekanism, Hamza Mudassir, Musk, Alex Jones, MacDonald, Linda Yaccarino, X, Matt Navarra Organizations: Social, Service, Business, Twitter, Media, Cambridge University, Apple, Disney, The New York Times, Times, IBM, Walmart

Caesars paid around $15 million in ransom to regain access to its systems from the hackers, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. Some have been collecting evidence leading to the hackers' identities and are assisting law enforcement, according to the five insiders. The sources say that, following the September casino hacks, the FBI's investigation took on new urgency. Mandia didn't respond directly when asked whether Scattered Spider's identities were known to law enforcement. But he did say that there was no excuse for not arresting hackers who operated from the West.

Persons: Bridget Bennett, Michael Sentonas, Sentonas, Alphabet's, James Foster, Foster, cybercriminals, gona, Kevin Mandia, Mandiant, you've, Zeba Siddiqui, Raphael Satter, Christopher Bing, Chris Sanders, Claudia Parsons Organizations: MGM, MGM Resorts, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, U.S . Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Industry, Reuters, Department of Justice, Caesars, Wall Street, Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, ex, Telegram, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, WASHINGTON, America, Palo, American, Baltimore , Maryland, United States, Newark , New Jersey, sextortion, San Francisco, Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last year, a teenager in a small Michigan town killed himself after an online chat turned to demands that he pay money to keep intimate photos secret. He was one of dozens of people targeted online by two men extradited from Nigeria to face charges, FBI director Christopher Wray said Saturday. The arrests came after the FBI joined with police in Michigan to investigate the death of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay, one thousands of American teenagers targeted in a sharp rise in online “sextortion” cases in recent years. He was preparing to go a trip to Florida with his father the night before his death, she said. HIs family has since spoken out about his death, urging other parents to talk with their kids about “sextortion” schemes.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Jordan DeMay, “, ” Wray, Wray, DeMay, Samuel Ogoshi, Samson Ogoshi, Samuel Ogoshi's, Samson Ogoshi's, Jennifer Buta Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, FBI, Associated Press, International Association of Chiefs, Police, U.S Locations: Michigan, Nigeria, U.S, Jordan, Upper, Marquette County, Lagos, Ivory Coast, Florida

☆ A man was jailed for using AI to create hundreds of sexual images of children
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A man in South Korea was jailed for creating sexually explicit images of children. A Spanish town has been rocked after an AI app was used to create fake naked photos of girls. AdvertisementAdvertisementA South Korean man was jailed for using AI prompts to create sexually explicit images of children, The Korea Herald reported, citing local outlets. The man is alleged to have used an image-generating AI program to create about 360 sexual images, the prosecutor's office told CNN. The deepfake images were reportedly made using made using Clothoff, an AI-powered app that allows users to "undress girl for free."

Persons: — Organizations: Korea Herald, Service, CNN, FBI Locations: South Korea, Spain, Almendralejo, Extremadura

☆ Snapchat is working to make its app even safer for teen users
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Snapchat says it’s working to make its app even safer for teen users. The company also launched a series of YouTube videos for parents about the features and an updated website laying out its teen safety and parental control policies. And since then, Snapchat — like other platforms — has rolled out a variety of new teen safety and parental supervision tools. The app’s other existing teen safety measures include prohibiting young users from having public profiles and having teens’ Snap Map location-sharing tool turned off by default. Snapchat will also impose a new strike system for accounts promoting content inappropriate for teens in its Stories and Spotlight sections, where users can share content publicly on the app.

Persons: New York CNN — Snapchat, Snap, Snapchat Organizations: New, New York CNN, YouTube Locations: New York

☆ Sextortion investigation: 2 Nigerian men accused of running a global ring linked to a teen's suicide have been extradited to US, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Josh Campbell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Alleged members of a global sextortion operation that targeted more than 100 victims and led to the death of a 17-year-old boy were extradited to the United States on Sunday to face federal criminal charges, authorities said. That charge stems from an alleged online encounter that investigators say resulted in the death of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay, who died by suicide after falling victim to a sextortion scam. According to prosecutors, Samuel Ogoshi used a hacked social media account to make contact with DeMay while pretending to be a young woman. DeMay paid Ogoshi $300, but Ogoshi demanded more, authorities said. The alleged sextortion ring was disrupted by tracking victim payments through financial entities, Kowalski said.

Persons: CNN —, Samuel Ogoshi, Samson Ogoshi, Mark Totten, Jordan DeMay, Ezekiel Ejehem Robert, DeMay, Ogoshi, ” Totten, “, ”, Devin Kowalski, Kowalski, Totten Organizations: CNN, FBI, Nigeria’s, Financial, Federal Locations: United States, Lagos, Nigeria, Michigan, Southeast Asia

☆ Amid Sextortion’s Rise, Computer Scientists Tap A.I. to Identify Risky Apps
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Tripp Mickle | More About Tripp Mickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“There are reviews out there that talk about the type of dangerous behavior that occurs, but those reviews are drowned out,” Mr. Levine said. “You can’t find them.”Predators are increasingly weaponizing apps and online services to collect explicit images. Because Apple’s and Google’s app stores don’t offer keyword searches, Mr. Levine said, it can be difficult for parents to find warnings of inappropriate sexual conduct. He doesn’t plan to profit off the site but is encouraging donations to the University of Massachusetts to offset its costs. Mr. Levine and a dozen computer scientists investigated the number of reviews that warned of child sexual abuse across more than 550 social networking apps distributed by Apple and Google.

Persons: ” Mr, Levine Organizations: ” Predators, University of Massachusetts, Apple, Google

☆ Discord bans AI-generated child sex abuse material and teen dating
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Ben Goggin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

SAN FRANCISCO — Discord's head of trust and safety said Tuesday that the popular chat platform was changing and clarifying its child safety policies including those around around teen dating and AI-generated child sexual abuse material, an announcement that comes after an NBC News investigation last month into child safety on the platform. The Washington Post reported in June that AI-generated child sex images have proliferated across the internet in recent months. The company said in a blog post announcing the changes that the updated child sexual abuse material policy would include "any text or media content that sexualizes children, including drawn, photorealistic, and AI-generated photorealistic child sexual abuse material. Under this policy, teen dating servers are prohibited on the platform and we will take action against users who are engaging in this behavior." In June, an NBC News investigation found hundreds of Discord servers that appeared to promote child abuse material, and some servers that advertised themselves as teen or child-dating servers that solicited nude images from minors.

Persons: — Discord's, John Redgrave, Discord's, Redgrave Organizations: SAN, NBC, Washington Post, NBC News Locations: San Francisco

☆ Meta launches a tool to proactively prevent sextortion of teens
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Meta is taking steps to crack down on the spread of intimate images of teenagers on Facebook and Instagram. To create a hash of an explicit image, a teen can visit the website TakeItDown.NCMEC.org to install software onto their device. Meanwhile, President Biden demanded in his latest State of the Union address more transparency about tech companies’ algorithms and how they impact their young users’ mental health. Meta recommends teens who have multiple copies of the image or edited versions make a hash for each one. “There’s no one panacea for the issue of sextortion or the issue of the non-consensual sharing of intimate images,” Davis said.

A former New York weatherman who alleged in September that he was fired after someone sent nude webcam photos of him to his employer is speaking out against online “predators” following months of silence. After he learned the photos were taken, Adame asked Unit 4 Media for more information about the user who shared them. It is also unclear if the “pictures and videos” Adame refers to in his latest Instagram post are the same images referred to in the petition or additional images. Toward the end of his latest video, Adame shared a message with his followers. Adame told NBC News that he still hasn’t found work since his departure from NY1.

☆ 'Sextortion' attacks on the rich and famous are on the rise. Here's how their lawyers discreetly fight back.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Celebrities, sports stars, CEOs have never been more at risk of 'sextortion' attacks, lawyers say. "I'm going to blow up you and your business," the screen read. "If you can't get me money," she texted the terrified CEO, according to records reviewed by Insider, "I'm going to fuck up your whole company." East Coast, West CoastHigh-end sextortions like the case of that Manhattan CEO, one of Saland and Weisberg's recent clients, are spawning a growing legal practice. It's different in ManhattanIn contrast, Manhattan sextortion clients tend to hail not from the A-list, but from the city's vast pool of the anonymously wealthy.

☆ FBI warning on teens and ‘sextortion’ means parents need to take these steps
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Teresa Huizar | Teresa Huizar Is The Ceo Of | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

This week, the FBI issued a rare public safety alert warning of an alarming increase in “sextortion” cases targeting children and teens. One former investigator with the New Jersey State Police reported that sextortion cases have increased 400% in the last four years. One told a 13-year-old he would rape her and kill her parents if she didn’t perform certain sexual acts on camera. Tell kids to be highly selective about sharing any personal information and to never, ever share intimate images online. And anytime a child is blackmailed or extorted for sexual images, that should be reported to law enforcement.

☆ Over 3,000 minor victims were targeted in ‘sextortion’ crimes in the past year, U.S. law enforcement says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Federal law enforcement officers are cracking down on a scheme that aims to extort sexual imagery from children and teens after a dramatic increase in incidents over the past year. Sometimes, a predator shares imagery regardless of whether a victim meets payment demands, according to federal officials. Law enforcement officials say prevention is the best weapon against sextortion. The sextortion cycle generally ends when a victim tells an adult or the offender is discovered by law enforcement. "We will continue to partner with federal, state and local law enforcement to protect children from sexual exploitation in all its despicable forms."

☆ FBI Warns About Extortion Schemes Targeting Boys
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Jennifer Calfas | Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

More than 7,000 reports of such plots have been made to law enforcement over the past year, the FBI said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported a significant uptick in extortion scams aimed at thousands of children and teenagers, prompting an unusual public safety alert Monday warning of the potential for more Americans to be targeted over the holidays. The scheme involves coercing minors into sending explicit photos of themselves online, according to the FBI. Those behind the so-called financial sextortion then threaten to release the images unless the victim sends money or gift cards.

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