Blackmail on the targeted webcam: how to react?

What is webcam blackmail?

The scam takes place especially on dating sites and social networks. The cyber crook (also called

grazer

) tries to gain your trust through a fake attractive profile, usually from a web café. After regular exchanges, he offers you a webcam meeting during which the conversation can become more intimate. He then records compromising photos and videos that he threatens to leak to your community and networks if you refuse to pay the amount he claims.

How do you protect yourself from it?

• Avoid putting yourself in front of the webcam in an identifiable way and avoid any recognizable signs (tattoo, jewelry, place...).
• Ask the caller to do the same gestures as you and at the same time to make sure you are not facing a pre-recorded video.

How do you react if you are a victim?

• Don't give in to blackmail.
• Keep evidence showing the scam (screenshots of exchanges...).
• Check the link to prove that the video is online.
• If you have the URL link to the video, report the blackmail to the relevant platform or social network, as well as on the official web portal for reporting illegal content on the Internet www.internet-signalement.gouv.fr who will contact you and can have the video deleted.
• Contact the platform info Scams 0 805 805 817 (free service and call) from Monday to Friday from 9am to 6.30pm. Police and gendarmes can advise and guide you.
• Report the blackmailer on social media or relevant apps and block the contact.
• Go to the gendarmerie or police station with all the information and evidence printed.
• Secure your accounts (messaging, social networks...) by changing your password and saving an email address or a recovery phone number.
• Notify your loved ones so they can also protect their accounts.
• If you are a minor and need advice, you can contact the service netecoute free at 0800 200 000 from Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm or via the cat on the netecoute.fr website.
• Search regularly on your behalf. For example, you can schedule an alert that will send you a message on your e-mail when content associated with your name comes online.