Director of the Cybercrime Department at Dubai Police, Lieutenant Colonel Saeed Al Hajri, revealed that the crime of electronic sexual blackmail has evolved from being merely random individual practices, to an organized crime carried out by gangs spread around the world.
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Immediate assistance for victims Director of the Cybercrime Department at Dubai Police, Lieutenant Colonel Saeed Al Hajri, said: “The department provides immediate assistance to victims of electronic sexual blackmail, which includes removing the video that was filmed for the victim from YouTube, and erasing all accounts that the accused created for him on social networking sites.” However, the problem remains in the presence of the main content of the blackmail material by the perpetrator, which represents a continuous threat to the victim.” |
Al-Hajri told Emirates Today that these gangs have developed their method of luring victims. Instead of using recorded video clips of women undressing, they began to use women to perform this role, with the aim of plotting a trick and convincing the victim that he is not being manipulated.
He added that Dubai Police is making great efforts to save the victims, by erasing all the sexual material that blackmailers threaten them with from the Internet, specifically YouTube and social networking sites, and is also pursuing the accused, whether they are at home or in their countries, in addition to bringing in men. Police specialized in combating cybercrime in countries where extortion gangs are active, to train them in the UAE on how to monitor the crime and prosecute the accused, and provide sufficient evidence to ensure their conviction in the court of justice. They receive a deterrent punishment.
Al-Hajri explained that sexual blackmail is one of the cruelest cybercrimes, and has caused the human and social destruction of people around the world, including teenagers who committed suicide as a result of the pressures they were exposed to. He pointed out that Dubai Police received cases of people occupying prominent positions in society who were subjected to this type of blackmail. They were in a very bad psychological state, and I intervened to help them erase their sexual content. I also tracked down the criminals in the countries from which they carried out their crimes.
He explained that this is a high bill that people pay for globalization and the ease of communication through modern technologies, pointing out that the victim bears a large part of the responsibility, when he downloads applications on his phone of his own free will, which make him vulnerable to these crimes, without reading the terms and conditions of use, indicating that the providers of these services They absolve themselves of their legal responsibilities by writing unfair terms that the user accepts without reading them.
Al-Hajri continued: “The police find it very difficult to take legal action later, given that the victim voluntarily accepted the risk, and we find ourselves as security personnel unable to hold these companies accountable, because they have protected themselves legally,” adding: “The terms of the applications are against the user, and we are trying on our part to help him.” In getting rid of the effects of crime, but in the end there are limits to our work, and we compensate for this by raising awareness campaigns about the dangers of falling into the clutches of extortionists through these malicious applications.”
He explained that after a person downloads a social media application, he is included in a group that includes blackmailers without his knowledge, and he is involved in a crime or becomes a victim, and in all cases no one forced him to do so.
He said: “There are security services in several countries that do not pay attention to these reports at all, and do not provide any assistance to the victim, but rather explicitly inform him that he is responsible for what happened to him, and he must bear full responsibility, but the situation is different in the Emirates, as we consider the personal security of the individual to be part of the security of the victim.” Society in general, and we cannot abandon it under any circumstances.”
He continued: “Everyone must realize that the Internet is connected to every place in the world, and there are dangerous villains in other countries who exploit opportunities to trap victims, exploiting a technology that is low in cost and risk, and has high returns.”
He stated that “electronic crime is developing exponentially and not gradually, like traditional crime. In the beginning, the cybercriminal learns simple things such as hacking into individuals’ accounts and embezzling what can be taken from them, or threatening and blackmailing them. Then he likes the cheap idea, and begins targeting larger groups or huge companies and institutions.” To achieve greater gains.
He stressed that “the combat experts develop themselves in return, and no matter how professional the criminal is, he leaves a mark behind him, but individuals must be careful of themselves, because it is difficult to avoid the consequences, even if the criminal is arrested and brought to justice, and this is one of the dangers of the crime of sexual blackmail.”
Al-Hajri explained, “Cybercriminals are no longer as naive as the past, but they have become more organized, and they choose the place where they commit their crimes after carefully reviewing the laws, to determine the loopholes through which they can escape if they are caught.”
He stressed that “the biggest problem comes from countries that suffer from corruption or turmoil, as the criminal acts with a great deal of confidence in the difficulty of pursuing or arresting him, and is more cruel to his victims because he realizes that he will not lose anything,” explaining that “international gangs now have departments specialized in crimes.” “Electronic, due to its huge returns and low cost, in light of the lack of need for the criminal to move or use traditional manual means.”
Regarding the countries that represent the most threat in crimes of electronic sexual blackmail for men, Al-Hajri said: “The crime started from one of the North African countries, and was repeated remarkably until it became more organized from within these countries, and then the method moved to the rest of the North African countries.”
Regarding the degree of response of countries that harbor defendants, Al-Hajri explained: “Some countries respond to us, and others do not respond, but we have now had the experience of communicating with the correct authority, and we have built bridges and relationships with our counterparts, until we have reached what can be described as (the horse’s stall). )».
He revealed that Dubai Police was keen to provide some logistical assistance to those countries, so it organized courses through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), and all officers specialized in combating cybercrime in those countries joined them, with the aim of raising their efficiency and training them on how to monitor, prosecute and arrest criminals, and provide evidence. sufficient to convict them, stressing that this step achieved important results, whether in terms of cooperation or the arrest of large numbers of criminals.
He stressed that the transformation of this crime from the random, individual path to the organized part has greatly complicated it, as criminals now do not choose ordinary victims, but rather focus on the rich and high-ranking figures, to ensure the greatest amount of gains are achieved, pointing to the fall of a large number of celebrities, public figures, and managers. Executives are in the trap of these gangs.
He stressed that despite its transformation into a type of organized crime, Dubai Police can confront these people and reach the perpetrators, especially in light of the organization of an expanded campaign by the Secretary Service of the General Administration of State Security, in coordination with the Communications Regulatory Authority, under the slogan: “Electronic blackmail… Be careful not to be next. He pointed out that it achieved impressive results that were reflected in the index of reports received by the Department of Combating Cybercrime.