This Valentine’s Day, ABC7’s I-Team is shedding light on a disturbing romance scam called “sextortion” that is making waves in the digital dating world.
In this scheme, perpetrators claim to possess compromising images of their targets and demand money in exchange for silence.
One brave individual decided to open up about her experience with the I-Team.
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The story serves as a stark reminder of the potential pitfalls in the realm of online romance.
Fraudsters often persuade individuals to send explicit images through messaging apps or texts. They may also use artificial intelligence to fabricate nude images of their victims, leveraging these to extort money by threatening exposure.
A woman, referred to as “Maria” for privacy reasons, shared her ordeal with the I-Team, requesting her identity remain concealed.
Maria was messaging a man on a dating app for months, until he started demanding money. When she refused, he threatened to revealing photos and videos of her. His message said he would “distribute all of them” to her followers.
“I happened to be online and saw that he had posted, and he was messaging everybody in the comments I have nude photos if you want to see it, which was horrific,” Maria said.
READ MORE | What is sextortion? Threatening emails, direct messages part of common scam
When she didn’t pay, he posted a picture of her on social media. She says the scammer used AI to make it look like she didn’t have clothing on.
“They actually look for kind, compassionate people who can have attachments… and hope that you’re going to give something up in return,” Maria said.
Authorities say she did the right thing by refusing to pay $3,000 in crypto. She also filed a report with the FBI’s internet crimes division, on IC3.gov.
“Preserve any messages these people are sending you,” Chicago FBI Special Agent Ashley Kizler said. “Obtaining usernames, email names, addresses, don’t respond to the message… and then block that person and don’t respond and report to the FBI.”
The victim says she stopped dating online and turned to an in-person matchmaker, Matchmakers Elite, in Oakbrook Terrace. They said they have been hearing a lot about the AI scams and sextortion scams.
“They’re using actual photos of you and changing it in ways that are unflattering that you don’t want out there,” said Anna Rigali, senior matchmaker at Matchmakers Elite. “They’re making it look like you by using your actual photos and they’re using it to blackmail you.”
Rigali says in-person dating services like the one she runs with her mother will research people’s potential criminal and personal history before clients meet them in person.
“We get enough information that they can actually build a psychological profile on this person, you know, based on different factors, they’re pulling how long they’ve lived at their residences, how long they’ve kept certain jobs,” Rigali said.
“If we start talking about it, it removes the power these people have,” Maria said.
Dating services can cost more money than dating apps. So, anyone dating online should try to meet in-person, in a safe place, shortly after making a connection. If they’re giving excuses not to meet or are trying to move to another app, that’s a warning sign.
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