ONLINE PREDATORS ARE BLACKMAILING TEENAGERS, EXPERTS WARN PARENTS
▶ Offenders can demand up to Dh2,000 from victims who have shared explicit photographs on Snapchat or Instagram
Online predators are encouraging vulnerable teenagers to share explicit pictures of themselves on social media before blackmailing them, experts said.
Parents in the UAE are being advised to keep a close eye on their children’s internet use to prevent them falling victim to the blackmailers.
Barry Cumming of the group Beat The Cyber Bully, which promotes online safety, said some offenders demanded up to Dh2,000 from victims.
A child psychologist said that children were even being blackmailed into doing homework for classmates who had compromising pictures of them.
“It is usually children who are being targeted by predators monitoring activity on Snapchat and Instagram,” Mr Cumming said. “They monitor profiles and pretend to be the same age and going through similar issues.” The practice of blackmailing people who have posted compromising content of themselves on social media is known as sextortion.
The phenomenon is not new, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi police have previously warned the public to be wary.
Under UAE law, anyone found guilty of the practice faces two years in jail and a fine of between Dh250,000 and Dh500,000.
Mr Cumming, whose company works with schools in the UAE, said he was aware of hundreds of cases where young people had shared explicit pictures and later had been asked for money in exchange for privacy.
He said the threat posed by predators was real and that parents needed to ensure children felt comfortable coming to them for help if they fall victim.
“The cases we have dealt with personally tend to involve young girls who shared explicit pictures of themselves,” he said. “The predators target the more vulnerable and this tends to be girls because they are more open and honest about what they share online.
“This is not a world made of rainbows and unicorns. There are sick people out there who are willing to exploit the vulnerable.” Mr Cumming said victims he had spoken to were blackmailed for sums of between Dh500 and Dh2,000.
“I have spoken to teenage victims of extortion here and the advice I would give anyone in the same situation would be not to pay the blackmailers,” he said.
“Once they pay, the blackmailers will see them as an easy touch, and will more than likely ask them for more money.”
Dubai psychologist Thoraiya Kanafani said she had offered counselling to many teenage victims of blackmail in the UAE. She said perpetrators often lived close to the victims and were not always looking for cash.
“It’s predominantly females who are the victims and the blackmailers tend to be looking for sexual favours,” Dr Kanafani said.
“It is often girls between the ages of 17 and 18 who have sent a picture to a guy they like.”
Dr Kanafani said she had worked with more than a dozen teenage victims in the UAE who were blackmailed over pictures they had shared online.
But she suggested many more cases probably went unreported because of the shame and embarrassment felt by victims.
“Predators are looking for weakness and target children with low self-esteem,” she said.
“It is important that parents work on strengthening the confidence of their children.”
It is not always explicit material that leads to blackmail, according to Dr Kanafani.
“It can be the case that someone knows a teenager has started to smoke and is threatening to tell their parents if they don’t carry out favours for them,” she said. “It could also be the case that a picture has been circulating online of a young person smoking or drinking alcohol and someone is using it as leverage.
“The blackmailers target emotion rather than logic.”
She said there was only one realistic option available to the victims of blackmail.
“They should take a screenshot or photograph and take it to the police immediately.”