1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,400 Sextortion is what is commonly referred to

2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:07,400 as individuals who are being victimized

3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:09,400 they’re being extorted;

4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,400 it’s what we commonly refer to as extortion, only

5 00:00:012,600 --> 00:00:18,400 the end-gain for the individuals who are doing the extortion is

6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:23,400 something that’s related to some sexual activity. Whether it be

7 00:00:023,600 --> 00:00:26,400 pictures or videos or,

8 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,400 but it is generally something that is associated with sex.

9 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,400 So I’m blackmailing you for something sexual in nature.

10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,400 Kids tend to be less cautious

11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,400 and more trusting of individuals online.

12 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,400 They associate many people online as people much like themselves,

13 00:00:044,600 --> 00:00:47,400 of around the same age. So

14 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:49,900 they're not very fearful of potential dangers.

15 00:00:50,100 --> 00:00:53,400 A lot of times you have individuals who will befriend children.

16 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,400 They think they are chatting with other children.

17 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:01,400 And oftentimes children are tricked into sending pictures of themselves

18 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,400 to somebody else that they believe are maybe similar in age.

19 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:09,400 And once these individuals have these pictures, well they want more pictures.

20 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:14,400 That is what they’re using in furtherance of their criminal activity.

21 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,400 Once they have these pictures, they are then able to say to

22 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,400 the victim or to the child,

23 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,400 “I want more,” or, “I want you to do x, y, and z.

24 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,400 And if you don’t I’m going to take these photographs and I’m going to

25 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,400 send them to other people in the school. I’ll send them to your family.”

26 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,400 And oftentimes, the children are embarrassed,

27 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:42,400 especially thinking as though they have somehow contributed to their victimization.

28 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,400 So fearing that they will get in trouble if they report it,

29 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:51,400 they will continue with the victimization and send the individuals what they’re requesting.

30 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,400 What often happens is, the victimization never stops.

31 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:01,400 We saw situations where the individuals responsible for this criminal activity

32 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:07,400 actually created websites and actually sent hyperlinks to friends

33 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,400 and to family members, again showing a certain level of

34 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,400 a sense of dominance over the victim to say,

35 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:19,400 “This is what I have over you, and if you don’t continue to do what I say,

36 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,400 these are the things that I can do.”

37 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:27,400 They are masters at exploiting the vulnerable.

38 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,400 They would trick people into opening an attachment.

39 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,400 One of the ways they would often do it was they would send a picture of a girl.

40 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,400 And she was wearing a bra and panties. And

41 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,400 she had her hair over her face and you couldn’t see what she looked like.

42 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,400 And they would say something along the lines of,

43 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,400 “I saw this picture of you on a website. If it’s not you, just disregard.”

44 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:51,400 Well, what a lot of these victims didn’t realize was there was a

45 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,400 Trojan program embedded within the picture.

46 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,400 All kids looked at the picture. Kids are just curious by nature.

47 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:03,400 And not even realizing that something could be embedded in that picture they looked at it.

48 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,400 Once Connolly [a sextortist] and Dickerson [another sextortionist] had access to their computer,

49 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:09,400 what they would do is a couple things.

50 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,400 A lot of times they would just sit back and watch.

51 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,400 And they had the ability to turn on your webcam.

52 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,400 So they would see these victims dressing and undressing and

53 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,400 just doing various things. And they would tape that.

54 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,400 And sometimes they would catch kids doing things or catch kids changing [clothes].

55 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:31,400 Sometimes they would show these videos or pictures in furtherance of the exploitation.

56 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:36,400 Also, once they had this they had access to buddy lists, so they were able to say,

57 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:41,400 “If you don’t take pictures of yourself, or you don’t take these movies of yourself,

58 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,400 I see you have an e-mail address for your grandmother.

59 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,400 Well, I’ll put this little show together for your grandmother, and

60 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,400 I’m sure she wouldn’t, you know, be very proud of the way you act.”

61 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,400 And a lot of these kids would do this.

62 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:58,400 Today you have so many more malware

63 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,400 there’s so much more malware out there, and so many more

64 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,400 programs that allow people access to your computer,

65 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:10,400 you can’t be too cautious any more. One of the things that,

66 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,400 especially when talking to parents, is

66 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,400 you need to have this open dialogue with your children.

67 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,400 You have to talk to your kids about these things.

68 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,400 You can’t be too careful. You really can’t trust…

69 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,400 you’ve got to be careful with whom you’re communicating.

70 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,400 Always be cautious: number-one.

71 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,400 Number-two is: kids need to be able to talk to parents

72 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,400 and parents need to be able to talk to kids.

73 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,400 If you don’t know who something is from, don’t open it.

74 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:43,400 Be cautious of certain attachments.

75 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,400 And, in the end,

76 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,400 if something were to happen, if you were victimized,

77 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:55,400 tell somebody, tell your parents. Tell an adult. Tell a teacher.

78 00:04:55,600 --> 00:05:00,400 Even if you’re an adult and you’re victimized, don’t be afraid to call law enforcement.

79 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:06,400 Dickerson had—he had like 230 gigabytes worth of material.

80 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,400 And at the time that was huge.

81 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:15,400 Connolly had close to a terabyte worth of material.

82 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:21,400 And the thing was a lot of these kids are just some folder somewhere.

83 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,400 It was a folder on a computer.

84 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:30,400 No name. No screen name. Just pictures and videos in a folder.

85 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,400 And part of what I feel my responsibility is is

86 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,400 to talk to anybody who’s willing to listen

87 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,400 because I know where’s so many more victims out here that are wondering,

88 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:44,400 “I wonder what ever happened to those guys?” or, “Do I still need to be afraid?”

89 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,400 If you know somebody or are in a similar situation,

90 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,400 or if you’re a parent, talk to your children about this.