THANKS TO NCIS . REPOSTED HERE FOR ALL THE ANONYMOUS VICTIMS WHO WEREN'T SURE :
November 28, 2018
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... 38a245515d Inmates posing as women online blackmailed hundreds of troops in ‘sextortion’ scheme
“With nothing more than smartphones and a few keystrokes, South Carolina inmates along with outside accomplices victimized hundreds of people,” Daniel Andrews, an Army investigator focused on computer crimes, said in a news release.
Operation Surprise Party was launched in January 2017 by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, officials said, and later joined by Army, Air Force, state and federal agents. The announcement marked the first phase of the operation, though it is unclear when the investigation began or what alerted authorities to the practice.
More than 250 other people are under investigation and could face charges, said Jeff Houston, an NCIS spokesman.
Nov. 28, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/us/s ... rtion.htmlFive prison inmates in South Carolina have been charged with setting up an elaborate extortion ring in which they blackmailed members of the military by posing as underage women online and collected more than half a million dollars, the authorities said Wednesday.
The inmates, who were indicted this month, used smartphones that were smuggled into prison to create profiles on social media and dating sites to lure in service members, Sherri A. Lydon, United States attorney for the District of South Carolina, said at a news conference in Columbia, S.C. Ten other people were charged with assisting the inmates in obtaining money they demanded from the service members, according to court documents.
The inmates exchanged nude photos with the service members, using photos of young women found on the internet, Ms. Lydon said. They would then pretend to be the girl’s father or another authority figure and tell the service member that their fictitious daughter was underage, she said. The inmates demanded money and said that if the service member didn’t pay, they would alert the military to the sexting, she said.
Five prison inmates in South Carolina have been charged with setting up an elaborate extortion ring in which they blackmailed members of the military by posing as underage women online and collected more than half a million dollars, the authorities said Wednesday.
The inmates, who were indicted this month, used smartphones that were smuggled into prison to create profiles on social media and dating sites to lure in service members, Sherri A. Lydon, United States attorney for the District of South Carolina, said at a news conference in Columbia, S.C. Ten other people were charged with assisting the inmates in obtaining money they demanded from the service members, according to court documents.
The inmates exchanged nude photos with the service members, using photos of young women found on the internet, Ms. Lydon said. They would then pretend to be the girl’s father or another authority figure and tell the service member that their fictitious daughter was underage, she said. The inmates demanded money and said that if the service member didn’t pay, they would alert the military to the sexting, she said.
