KENORA – Social media can be an excellent way to connect with people around the world on various social topics, but in some cases, it can leave the door wide open for fraudsters to take advantage.
After several phone calls to the Kenora Detachment about fraudsters using social media to befriend individuals, solicit an exchange of sexually explicated photos, and then uses those photos to blackmail thousands of dollars from their victims, the OPP is informing the public not to give personal information or photos to anyone on social media.
“This is happening all across North America,” said Provincial Constable Jason Canfield. “People befriend people on social media sites such as Instagram. They start to talk and eventually that turns to something like sexting and exchanging pictures. Once the pictures are exchanged that turns into threatening to spread those pictures to their families or all their contacts if they don’t give them money.”
Canfield stated that the Kenora OPP detachment has received multiple calls from people who are falling victim to these types of fraudsters. The victims tend to be males in their teens, but also range to adults in their thirties. However, the target can be anybody.
To find these fraudsters, the OPP can get a production order which is a special type of warrant that allows them to get the Internet Protocol (IP) address of these individuals. In cases of the youth that were involved, Canfield is working with the Child Exploration Unit to get a production order.
However, the hardest problem the OPP faces in bringing these fraudsters to justice is location. Online fraudsters can be located anywhere in the world, and mask their IP Network with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which is an encrypted connection that grants users a way to mask their device’s location data.
“Not a people are from Canada or the United States, they could be from anywhere else in the world,” said Canfield. “At that point, we just pass that information to the agency near them.”
The OPP is asking parents to talk to their kids and warn them of the dangers of sharing pictures and information online.
“First and foremost, don’t share pictures or personal information online, especially to strangers” explain Canfield. “If you find yourself in this situation don’t send money. That’s what these people are preying on. So, if you send money and they say they want up to 300 to 600 dollars, once you send that they are going to ask for more.”
