Common sense in short supply
A friend of mine sent me a recent news article, detailing the predatory actions of a young man who managed to extort nude pictures and online companionship from a variety of girls through the social networking site Facebook.com.
I must say that I am appalled. Appalled at the fact that there are college-age women who are gullible enough to fall for his puerile tactics. Basically, this guy read information available on the Facebook site, learning his targets’ friends and their personalities. He would then impersonate one of these friends, and attempt to solicit pictures by stating that “she” (the friend he was impersonating) needed them to maintain a college scholarship. He would then threaten to publish these pictures if the target did not submit even racier and more compromising photos.
Consider the improbable facts of his story:
- “She” had tried calling everyone “she” knew, but no one else could help
- “Her” normal IM account wouldn’t work for technical reasons
- “She” couldn’t email because “she” needed these pictures immediately, and the email address to which the pictures are being sent is not “her” usual email address
- “Her” cellphone was dead, and thus she couldn’t call
- The project accepts pictures not taken by “her”, but “she” can’t use any of the millions of images already posted on the web.
- After he had acquired some compromising photos, he threatened to expose them if he did not receive even more compromising material. (Rule #1 in dealing with Blackmail: Never EVER give the blackmailer more material with which he can blackmail you)
It definitely smacks of a Rube Goldberg contrivance - and at that point (were I a potential victim) I’d be asking myself which is more likely: this story, or the that some random internet pervert is trying to get me to send him pics?
I suppose I should be somewhat mollified that this scheme only worked on around 10% of those girls he targetted, but I can still hardly believe he was even that successful. The sheer improbability of his scheme should have alerted these women that something was indeed amiss. I should assert that I in no way condone the actions of the sicko (who is facing a potential 2-7 well-deserved years in prison), but I whole-heartedly believe that people should shed their naivete in regard to the modern Internet. It stopped being a relatively safe playground for harmless fun decades ago, and the bad-actors out there are getting more and more imaginative and adept in their deceptions. A healthy dose of skepticism and simple common sense would go a long way to keeping everyone safer.
June 21st, 2006 at 2:16 pm
What the perp did here is basic HUMINT. He observed the actions people revealed about themselves, making connections where necessary. Then, he made contact under an assumed identity and extracte more information (pics). This is not to disagree that the college chickies should have known better, but simply to say that the way he did it is pretty textbook. I am always amazed at the schemes people will fall for and such, without any suspicion at all. Wouldn’t a gal, just out of curiosity, want to know how a person had a complete communication breakdown (email, IM, cell)? This sort of catastrophic failure is unheard of! Personally, I think intelligence agencies should be looking at this guy to see if they can take his basic approach and train him to use it for some good purpose.
June 21st, 2006 at 3:53 pm
Unfortunately, I don’t think that Mr. Scumbag’s approach is at all worthy of study or approval. While it’s true that his methods proved effective, I personally believe that his success owes far more to the naivete and inexperience of his victims, rather than any skill or insight on his part. Had he coupled this approach by applying more insightful technical skills (e.g. hacking the communications of his “assumed identity” in order to prevent the incongruity of the complete comms breakdown), I might be more impressed. From my perspective, the only really distinguishing characteristic in his scheme is that he actually had the gall (courage?) to undertake it.