2024-01-29
Important coverage by @NBCNews on our @ncri_io study: Financial sextortion is surging, driven by West Africa's ‘Yahoo Boys’. Exploiting social media, this crime has tragically led to numerous suicides among youth. Increasingly, generative AI is being used in these schemes.
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
Numerous videos posted to Yahoo Boy networks in TikTok and Youtube provide instruction on how to exploit AI to conduct sextortion and other scams. [image]
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
We also saw generative AI software being use to conduct a growing number of these crimes. The criminals can use easily accessible software to generate nude photos + create convincing catfish profiles. [image]
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
This group also distributes sextortion instructional how-to guides and scripts on TikTok, YouTube, and Scribd, enabling and encouraging other criminals to engage in financial sextortion. They refer to their victims as “clients.” This is a profitable business. [image]
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
Social media platforms must prioritize safety measures to protect children on their platform (or raise the age requirement to access social media), parents must educate themselves, and, crucially, destigmatizing this crime is essential to support and protect victims.
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
The criminals often work in tandem with each other to “bomb” high schools. This term refers to mass friending students at a target school so the victim believes the individual is an unknown classmate. A criminal who drove one 15 year old to suicide in 2021 had 15 mutual...
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
See NCRI's latest report featured on NBC on financial sextortion, considered the most rapidly growing crime targeting children in North America and Australia. A majority of this activity is linked to cybercriminal group in West Africa who target minors on Instagram, Snapchat,...
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
@NBCNews @ncri_io To combat financial sextortion: Social platforms need to ramp up safety measures, parents should educate themselves on online risks, law enforcement requires more resources for investigations, and it's crucial to destigmatize this crime to protect and support victims.
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
2024-01-28
See NCRI's latest report featured on NBC on financial sextortion, considered the most rapidly growing crime targeting children in North America and Australia. A majority of this activity is linked to cybercriminal group in West Africa who target minors on Instagram, Snapchat,...
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
“Yahoo Boys” is an informal network of cybercriminals who have gained cultural clout over the last several years in West Africa.
This group also distributes sextortion instructional how-to guides and scripts on TikTok, YouTube, and Scribd, enabling and encouraging other criminals to engage in financial sextortion. They refer to their victims as “clients.” This is a profitable business. [image]
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
“Yahoo Boys” is an informal network of cybercriminals who have gained cultural clout over the last several years in West Africa.
Social media platforms must prioritize safety measures to protect children on their platform (or raise the age requirement to access social media), parents must educate themselves, and, crucially, destigmatizing this crime is essential to support and protect victims.
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
“Yahoo Boys” is an informal network of cybercriminals who have gained cultural clout over the last several years in West Africa.
We also saw generative AI software being use to conduct a growing number of these crimes. The criminals can use easily accessible software to generate nude photos + create convincing catfish profiles. [image]
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
“Yahoo Boys” is an informal network of cybercriminals who have gained cultural clout over the last several years in West Africa.
The criminals often work in tandem with each other to “bomb” high schools. This term refers to mass friending students at a target school so the victim believes the individual is an unknown classmate. A criminal who drove one 15 year old to suicide in 2021 had 15 mutual...
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
“Yahoo Boys” is an informal network of cybercriminals who have gained cultural clout over the last several years in West Africa.
Numerous videos posted to Yahoo Boy networks in TikTok and Youtube provide instruction on how to exploit AI to conduct sextortion and other scams. [image]
NBC News
Researchers: financial sextortion of young users on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube is rising, driven by Yahoo Boys, a West African cybercriminal gang
“Yahoo Boys” is an informal network of cybercriminals who have gained cultural clout over the last several years in West Africa.
2023-10-07
They are also using these tools following mass shootings. For example, a fake manifesto circulating on 4chan went viral moments after the Nashville shooting earlier this year. This problem will only get worse and has implications for victims and law enforcement.
404 Media
Some 4chan users are running a coordinated campaign to flood the internet with racist images created using Bing's text-to-image generator powered by DALL-E 3
2023-10-06
They are also using these tools following mass shootings. For example, a fake manifesto circulating on 4chan went viral moments after the Nashville shooting earlier this year. This problem will only get worse and has implications for victims and law enforcement.
404 Media
Some 4chan users are running a coordinated campaign to flood the internet with racist images created using Bing's text-to-image generator powered by DALL-E 3
4chan users are coordinating a posting campaign where they use Bing's AI text-to-image generator to create racist images that they can then post across the internet.
2022-12-26
“If this decision is emblematic of a policy change that they no longer take these issues seriously, that's extraordinarily dangerous,” Goldenberg told Reuters. “It runs counter to Musk's previous commitments to prioritize child safety.” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Reuters
Twitter restores a feature that promotes suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources, after removing it reportedly following Elon Musk's order
[UPDATED: it's back, with Musk claiming 'fake news'] Reuters : Exclusive: Elon Musk orders removal of Twitter suicide prevention feature, sources say Mastodon: Dan Gillmor / @dangi...
2022-08-31
This was easily the most disturbing yet important work I've had the opportunity to work on at the @ncri_io. @Twitter somehow let a community predominantly made up of teens encouraging self-harm to grow exponentially, despite warnings last year. https://twitter.com/...
Washington Post
Researchers: self-harm posts are on the rise on Twitter, including graphic photos and high engagement; one hashtag grew to 30,000 tweets by July 2022
Self-harm related hashtags have increased roughly 500 percent since October, a new report says — A Twitter user in apparent distress turned …