US Inmates Blackmailed Hundreds of Military Personnel Online

Inmates in the United States have managed to blackmail hundreds of military personnel using the internet. According to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), prisoners in correctional facilities in South and North Carolina, with the help of accomplices on the outside, targeted service members on dating sites and social networks. Using fake identities, they established romantic relationships online and exchanged explicit photos with their victims.

After gaining the victims’ trust, the scammers would contact them pretending to be the father of the fictitious person, claiming that the “child” was underage and that exchanging explicit photos was illegal. In some cases, the “father” would agree not to file a complaint if the service member paid him a sum of money. Sometimes, the fraudsters posed as law enforcement officers demanding money for the family of the alleged “victim.”

This type of scam has become increasingly common in recent years. The NCIS report notes that even inmates with limited internet access can carry out such schemes. “With just a smartphone and a few keystrokes, inmates in South Carolina correctional facilities, together with accomplices on the outside, targeted hundreds of people,” the NCIS report states.

According to investigators, 442 members of the US Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps fell victim to these extortion schemes. In total, the blackmailers collected around $560,000.