EN
We receive several emails and support requests regarding adult websites and victims being scammed. We felt it was important to provide some information and tips about online safety on adult websites.
Believe it or not, a considerable portion of the internet is comprised of pornography and the websites cater to a large audience.
Moral of the story: we may not like to talk about it, but many people search for adult entertainment, be it in the form of porn videos, adult dating or (online) prostitution. But how do you know which sex site to trust and which porn website may be a fraud?
There are several ways in which scammers are misusing the adult industry. Users of adult websites are especially vulnerable as scammers know that many of their victims will not seek help, let alone contact the police, out of shame. We get reports mainly on four kinds of adult scams.
The most common complaint we receive about porn sites is the misuse of credit cards. Men, as well as women, have reported so-called “subscription helpdesk sites” to us which have charged their credit card illegally. These sites have unusual names like ETPVER.com, UPS873.com and CSMembers.com.
They charge credit cards on behalf of other sites, which may either be owned by their own company or by other enterprises, usually in the adult content, gambling or dating industries. The reason a different domain name is used is that consumers may not want to see the names of adult sites on their credit card transaction slips.
However, several of these "helpdesk" sites are nothing more than scams that have gotten their hands on your credit card. What’s the solution if such a site is continually charging your card?
Simple, call your credit card company and ask for a chargeback. You can clearly state you have never done a transaction with this website and therefore the charge is illegal. They prefer to just stop charging you instead of being cut off by the credit card company so that they can continue their malpractice for a longer time.
We have written a separate article about adult dating sites for detailed information about this type of scam. Many of these sites claim that you can find a like-minded person interested in sex. However, in many cases the profiles are fake or the persons behind the profiles tease you to pay extra. Users may even have to pay for every message they send. The promise of having actual sex is rarely made true. What can you do if you get duped by one of these sites?
Our adult dating article gives several tips on how to identify this kind of sex dating scam. Unless you are into the “entertainment” part, we simply recommend cancelling your subscription (do keep a copy of the confirmation email or make a screenshot as proof). Also, make sure to ask for complete removal of all your account data to prevent becoming a target of sextortion scams, which we will discuss next.
A Sextortion or Porn Scam is where a scammer threatens to expose your adult activities to friends and family unless you pay. It can also be called the Porn Blackmail scam.
The most common way to be contacted is via email (which is sent in bulk to tens of thousands of people daily). The scammer claims they have hacked your computer, network, or just filmed you while you were visiting a porn site. Usually, they claim that they will send the photos and videos to your relatives or just post them online unless you make a payment via Bitcoin or another untraceable cryptocurrency.
Below is an example of a sextortion email:
Source: nakedsecurity.sophos.com
Scammers may include your name, email address, phone number, credit card, or even passwords in the email as “proof”. WhatsApp, Twitter, and other social media are also increasingly being misused to send the same kind of messages.
However, in 99.999% of the cases, the emails are fake. There is no recording and the scammers just send thousands of messages a day to see if somebody bites. What should you do if you get such an email?
The best thing to do is to just delete the message and move on. If you reply, you only are giving the scammer a reason to keep harassing you. If a credit card number or password was sent along as “proof”, make sure to change your password and report the incident to your credit card company.
You can also report the email to the email provider, for example, Gmail or Outlook.
Unfortunately, some cybercriminals do have real blackmail material. You may have been sexting or exchanging nudes with a person who then uses the conversation as blackmail. There have also been several incidents where prostitution sites have been hacked and the contact details have been sold. In some cases, victims allege they were contacted by the police to pay a fine as they had been using a site to search a prostitute. What can you do if you’re caught in a sextortion case?
First, do not reply. Even if they do have sensitive material, it is of no use to start a discussion. They want money and will keep pressuring you to pay. If you do not reply, there is a big chance nothing will happen. Also, never, ever send money! The scammer will just keep asking for more money; they are criminals after all. If you pay, it only sends a signal that you can pay more.
If the extorter is sending confronting material, we recommend contacting the police. They can find and prosecute the scammer. We realize this may be a confronting step, but it is better to be confronted with the unpleasant consequences of one's actions than being manipulated by criminals.
