Social Networks - The New Haven For Harassers, Kidnappers & Extortion. What You Failed To Know.

Sexual predators actively breeding on social networks used to be the norm until the authorities stepped in to make sure that social network owners had placed in new measures to protect minors. This worked out pretty well but what the authorities, parents or even users of social networks NEVER knew were that social networks today has been a breeding ground for harassment, kidnapping and extortion. Even with privacy control features on social networks, it is not even enough to stop these scums of society. They have become smarter, more intelligent and cunning to say the least. They embrace new technologies and new features just like any tech savvy person would.

Always remember that there are no 100% percent privacy-proof measures or features on social networks today so always remember that prevention is always better in order for you to be safe rather than sorry. My last 6 months of casual chats with a couple of private detective acquaintances throughout Asia and Europe will definitely be an eye opener for you.

Case 1 :: Harassment (Both Online & Offline)
Mr. A had owed loan sharks a substantial amount of money. When the debt collectors could not locate Mr. A at his home, his phone, cellphone, they found out that he had an online social networking account. Mr. A never ever thought that these debt collectors would resort to using Internet technologies to locate him. But he was wrong. Not only did Mr. A get dozens of threatening messages, but because a particular social network today that has this feature whereby you could tell who a person's spouse, lover, sibling or parents were, that was when he realized he was is serious trouble by dragging in the rest of his family. Sure enough, his best friend was constantly being harassed and so was his sister with threatening and illicit messages. In certain cases, the victim's friend get an invitation on a social network to meet (from a so called 'hot babe') up in person, but in return gets beaten or threatened unless the debt is repaid.

There are plenty of jealousy cases (the 'jilted lover' case is a classic) too which has resulted in online and offline harassment. Friends of a particular friend, a sister's younger brother, a husband or wife, a girlfriend and a girlfriend's sister... all of them... the people in these cases have a story to warn you about. And they will tell you how important it is to safeguard your personal information on social networks or generally on the Internet.

Case 2 :: Kidnapping
Also a case whereby a Mr. B owed loan sharks some money. Mr. B had dozens of friends on his social network friend list which the debt collector also found where some of them lived. Not only did the debt collector find out the addresses of his friends, but also found out where he studied, where he hangs out, and where he works. Eventually, it was his ex-girlfriends sister which got kidnapped by the debt collector (they found out where she works, lives and hangs out by looking at her photo albums). But thankfully, she was left unharmed after a series of negotiations with her parents and the debt collectors. There are many other cases out there but the majority of people who get kidnapped are usually the victims lover and his/her family. They get beaten up, tortured and harassed for no apparent reason.

Case 3 :: Extortion
Victims were a 25 and 42 year old female. This scenario is classic indeed (i've been on the net since 1993 and i've heard of many stories just like this). Victim adds the random person (the criminal) after a couple of sweet talks exchanged through online messages to her 'friend list' and gets immediate access to their 'photo albums'. Selective pictures are then saved and downloaded (if you thought saving was not possible or other methods such as screen captures were not possible then you must be really naive) to the criminal's machine, digitally altered to be sexually explicit and that's when the extortion takes place. Failure to make the extorted payment to the criminal will result in the distribution of pictures to the victims close friends, relatives and family members. Know how the criminal gets the victims close friends, relatives and family members contact? You're right... what else, but through the social networking features.

An Advice :: 5 Tips
On social networks, here are the do's and don'ts :-
1. Do not post your Phone Number (Home / Mobile)
2. Do not post your Home / Office Address or work related details (if you're too paranoid)
3. Try not to post Personal Photos (which you feel may be too private)
4. SECURE your social network profile (the 3 cases above give you a picture of what you should be concerned about). Use your intuition and hunch. Put yourselves in the shoes of the victims above.
5. Try not to add people to your profile at random. Even if you do, make sure you know that person well enough to able to let him / her take a glimpse into your private life.

Which makes me wonder why the Japanese are so careful on social networks. If you've been on Mixi (Japanese social network), you'll know what i mean. A substantial amount of people there do not use their real name (they use nicknames instead) and the majority of them do not use their real life photos for their profile pictures. Instead, they use random, funny or miscellaneous profile pictures that portray what kind of character they would be.

You will never be safe until you are willing to instill good online privacy and prevention measures and habits on your own. My advice above may not be enough to safeguard you from online crimes or identity theft, but it will be a good start. Till then, in the words of Jerry Springer, 'Take care of yourself and each other'.

p/s: You have full permission to forward this article to your family, friends and loved ones that heavily uses social networks.

Part 2 of this article

Comments

[Jimmy Fall]

Interesting. Will forward this to friends. Is the social network you're talking about Facebook?

[Grace Li]

Gosh. Shocking!!!

[Tranh Nguyen]

That's it, i'm closing my Facebook account! No wait.. i'll be more cautious now i gues.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the article.I'll pass it around.

[Anonymous]

Creepy! Could be true!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the warning!