In South Korea ‘sextortion’, where people are tricked into performing sex acts online, then blackmailed, is becoming a big problem
- Using fake identities, criminals dupe internet users into performing sex acts online and then threaten to release the videos or photos unless the victims pay
- The crime has been on the increase in recent years, and South Korean police believe far more cases occur than are reported to them
By Jung Min-ho
It was supposed to be just a short, fun game until it turned into a never-ending nightmare.
A nice-looking woman online persuaded a man to take off his clothes and perform sexual acts in front of the webcam. He did so, only to realise after a few seconds that he had made a huge mistake. The woman threatened to share the footage with his family and friends unless he sent her money. After he ignored her, she sent the video to 20 of his friends through KakaoTalk, a mobile messenger service.
This is one of many stories shared in the online group “Victims of Body Cam Phishing”. Body cam phishing, or “sextortion”, is a form of blackmail in which criminals use fake identities to trick people into performing sexual acts online and then threaten to release the videos or photos unless the victims pay.
According to South Korea’s National Police Agency, there has been an increase in these crimes over the past few years. In 2018, 1,406 cases were reported, up from 1,193 in 2016.
Police believe the real number is much higher, given the nature of the crime. One group of criminals arrested last year had extorted 3.2 billion won (US$2.8 million) from 657 victims.