Webcam scam leads to blackmail and suicide

[taxman]

Poor bloke thought he was having an online relationship with a girl his own age, made an explicit webcam recording and was blackmailed and driven to suicide.

 

I suppose it proves the old adage correct, that the lush 17 year old you think you are chatting to could be a big beardy perv or even worse a criminal seeking to blackmail you.

 

I hope the perpetrators are found and face the full force of whatever law they can be charged with.

 

What a tragic waste.

[Mister M]

A few months ago I watched a fascinating documentary of a true story called Talhotblond about a love triangle involving fake internet profile which eventally led to murder.

It's got a twist in the story which you won't see coming. Worth looking out for, it's occasionally screened on Channel 4.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1370889/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4

[Mikes10]

There's a good chance there's more than just that lad, if so others may come forward

and help catch the perpetrators.

 

I've no idea what is taught to teenagers in school about the internet but clearly

teaching the nasty side must be moved up the agenda.

 

Some years ago the police were patrolling chat rooms for potential child grooming

candidates, but I don't know if this is still happening.

[Daid]

There were a number of teenagers questioned around the time of the last suicide and their opinion was that it's blown out of proportion by oldies that no nothing about social networking.

[Sierra]

Poor kid! What could he have done that was worth dying over?

 

Young people don't have the life experience to know that something like this isn't the end of the world or that maybe people are just bluffing. That, and they tend to put WAAAYYY too much of themselves out there on social media. The world doesn't need to know every time you change your underwear.

 

There's a show on MTV called Catfish. As an adult, looking at this I'm astounded at how people are taken in but stranger things have happened, especially online.

[ladycare]

the worlds gone mad ?

[jfish1936]

I can't see much point in on-line sex. Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's something to do in close proximity. At least until we can get touchy-feely 3D images through our systems!

[retired]

Not so much here but there is a site mainly focused on Americans but ran by a Japanese Co who get teenagers to expose themselves thinking that it is 1-1. They then broadcast it on the web.

 

Can you imagine what harm these videos can do if someone in the victims School gets hold of them.

[ronthenekred]

I can't see much point in on-line sex. Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's something to do in close proximity. At least until we can get touchy-feely 3D images through our systems!

 

In retrospect "old fashioned" usually comes with a bit of life experience. A young spotty lad all of a sudden gets the attention of a "pretty girl", anything else going on in his young inexperience life will have took a backstage seat. He probably thought all his Christmases had come at once. Very sad and a tragic waste.

[Resident]

Whilst it is tragic that these kids do themselves in I have to wonder if they're not partly to blame.

 

They go on a website, they end up getting abuse. Now the sensible thing to do at that point is to report it, All social media sites have a point of contact to do this. Then if the abuse continues, just leave the site or dump the profile you're using in favour of another and be more discerning about who knows about it.

 

What's not sensible is to keep going on the site.

 

I know that if I put my finger in a flame I'm gonna get burnt. So guess what, I don't put my finger in a flame.

 

I'm not excusing the bullies etc but these kids are enabling them to do it.