Blackmailer targets Canfield man | WKBN.com
CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN) – A 75-year-old man told police he was the victim of an extortionist.
According to a police report, the man said he had been chatting online with a woman through an app called Adult Friend Finder. He said communication was going well until the woman asked the man to send her a selfie, which he did.
The woman responded by sending the man a nude photo of herself and asking for nude photos of him. The man then sent the woman several nude pictures of himself, the report states.
A short time later, the man received a message from the woman demanding money or she was going to “ruin his life” by sharing the photos with friends and family, specifically naming two relatives.
At first the man thought the woman had gained access to his address book, but the names she gave as people she wanted to reveal the photos to were people he did not know.
The police assume that the woman did not have access to the man’s address book, but only did a Google search to find out who his relatives might be.
Police were able to track down some information that led to a textnow.com account, but were unable to obtain any subscriber information on the suspect.
The man said the woman has not been contacted since he went to the police.
The Federal Trade Commission offers several security steps to avoid becoming the target of malicious activity online. Some of the tips include the following:
- Use official app stores. To reduce the risk of installing potentially harmful apps, download apps only from official app stores, such as the device manufacturer or operating system app store. Also, research the developer before installing an app.
- Know what information the app will access. Before downloading an app, read the app’s privacy policy to see how your data will be used or if your data will be shared. Are the policies vague about how the app will share your data? If it is, or if you’re not comfortable with how your information may be shared, you may want to find another app.
- Check out the permissions. To access information such as your location or contacts or to access features such as camera and microphone, apps need your permission. You may be asked for permission when you first download the app, or when the app first tries to access this information or feature. Be careful with the permissions the app asks for. For example, does it really need access to your location or photos to do its job?
- Review the app’s permissions. Go to your settings to review the permissions to make sure the app doesn’t have access to information or features it doesn’t need. Turn off unnecessary permissions. Consider deleting apps that need a lot of permissions – some apps ask for a lot of permissions that aren’t necessary for the app to function. Pay special attention to apps that have access to your contact list, camera, storage, location, and microphone.
- Limit location permissions. Some apps have access to your device’s location services. If an app needs access to your location data to function, consider limiting access to only when the app is in use.
- Don’t automatically sign in to apps with a social network account. When you sign in to an app with your social network account information, the app can often collect information from your social network account and vice versa. If you’re not OK with that, use your email address and a unique password to sign in.
- Keep apps up to date. Apps with outdated software may be at risk of being hacked. Protect your device from malware by installing app updates as soon as they are released.
- Delete apps you don’t need. To avoid unnecessary data collection, delete it if you are not using an app.
