One type of crime that is becoming increasingly common online is “sextortion”, thesexual extortionwhich consists of threatening to spread on the Internet or other channels private photos or videos of a person to force them to pay money, send other explicit content or provide sexual favors. And according to the FBI, more and more criminals practicing these Sexual blackmail uses AI-generated deepfakes.
Deepfake AI used for sexual blackmail, the FBI alarm
Victims of this crime are often induced by deception or violence to supply incriminating material to criminals, who then use it as leverage to blackmail and manipulate them. Sextortion can affect anyone, but the most exposed are the youngwho tend to have more trust in people they meet online and more easily share personal information.
The FBI issued an alert Monday to warn of growing use of artificial intelligence to create fake videos that simulate real people in sexually explicit situations. These videos, called deepfakecan be used by criminals to harass victims or to extort them for money or otherwise. The FBI has received several reports from victims, including minors and non-consenting adultswhose photos or videos have been modified into explicit content and then publicly disseminated on social media or pornographic sites.
Unfortunately, there are so many software and services for producing so-called deepfake videos, ranging from free open source solutions to paid subscriptions. Thanks to the advances in artificial intelligence in recent years, the quality of these solutions has increased significantly so much so that a single photo of a person’s face is enough to create plausible videos that use the person’s likeness in a fake video.
Fraudsters often get hold of photos of victims from social media or other sources and use them to create “sex images that look realistic with a victim’s likeness, then post them on social media, public forums or pornographic websites,” FBI officials warned.
How to counter sextortion
Sextortion is a serious crime that can have devastating consequences for victims, such as anxiety, depression, shame and social isolation. To prevent and counter sextortion, try to never send intimate photos or videos to unknown or unreliable people. But also protect your devices and accounts with secure passwords and antivirus. Above all, bAny attempt at extortion or harassment must be reported immediately to the appropriate authorities. It is the blackmailer who is wrong, not the blackmailed.