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Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

bloomberg.com

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Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#11

Post by colechristensen »

aaron695 wrote: post #8

Same story in Australia, 16 year old boy killed himself, different two men in Lagos https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-68720247 I'm not real confident this is solvable with law enforcement in a world where the police press release is - "located in a slum in Nigeria with a population of 25 million people"

Sure it is. If a country can’t find and enforce a law or extradite someone for doing such a thing, order the carrier of the extortion messages to block the entire country or charge the message carrier itself, especially if minors are involved.

Like if Facebook is being a safe haven for Nigerian extortionists, either they block Nigeria or Australia blocks Facebook.

Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#12

Post by latentsea »

filoleg wrote: post #9
RecycledEle wrote: post #4

[flagged]

And how exactly is a local cop in the US supposed to enforce the law against someone who (both legally and physically) is a resident of a country on the other side of the globe (Nigeria)? Asking because that’s the situation the article in the OP is talking about, and I don’t see how any of what you said applies to it.

[flagged]

Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#13

Post by thrownaway561 »

colechristensen wrote: post #11
aaron695 wrote: post #8

Same story in Australia, 16 year old boy killed himself, different two men in Lagos https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-68720247 I'm not real confident this is solvable with law enforcement in a world where the police press release is - "located in a slum in Nigeria with a population of 25 million people"

Sure it is. If a country can’t find and enforce a law or extradite someone for doing such a thing, order the carrier of the extortion messages to block the entire country or charge the message carrier itself, especially if minors are involved. Like if Facebook is being a safe haven for Nigerian extortionists, either they block Nigeria or Australia blocks Facebook.

if they do that they will just use VPNs. you can't stop this no matter what, you just have to educate people and hope they don't fall victim.

Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#14

Post by djaouen »

thrownaway561 wrote: post #13
colechristensen wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure it is. If a country can’t find and enforce a law or extradite someone for doing such a thing, order the carrier of the extortion messages to block the entire country or charge the message carrier itself, especially if minors are involved. Like if Facebook is being a safe haven for Nigerian extortionists, either they block Nigeria or Australia blocks Facebook.

if they do that they will just use VPNs. you can't stop this no matter what, you just have to educate people and hope they don't fall victim.

Sanction VPNs that allow this behavior. Force them to use botnets, which means they have to interact with other criminals. :)

Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#15

Post by thfuran »

colechristensen wrote: post #11
aaron695 wrote: post #8

Same story in Australia, 16 year old boy killed himself, different two men in Lagos https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-68720247 I'm not real confident this is solvable with law enforcement in a world where the police press release is - "located in a slum in Nigeria with a population of 25 million people"

Sure it is. If a country can’t find and enforce a law or extradite someone for doing such a thing, order the carrier of the extortion messages to block the entire country or charge the message carrier itself, especially if minors are involved. Like if Facebook is being a safe haven for Nigerian extortionists, either they block Nigeria or Australia blocks Facebook.

What you're describing is the end of the internet.

Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#16

Post by colechristensen »

thrownaway561 wrote: post #13
colechristensen wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure it is. If a country can’t find and enforce a law or extradite someone for doing such a thing, order the carrier of the extortion messages to block the entire country or charge the message carrier itself, especially if minors are involved. Like if Facebook is being a safe haven for Nigerian extortionists, either they block Nigeria or Australia blocks Facebook.

if they do that they will just use VPNs. you can't stop this no matter what, you just have to educate people and hope they don't fall victim.

Then blackhole the VPNs when they're involved in crime and make them share legal financial responsibility for the crimes they enable.

Eventually you keep walking down this line until you write laws that local ISPs are required to globally blackhole countries which otherwise evade law enforcement.

Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#17

Post by jjmarr »

colechristensen wrote: post #11
aaron695 wrote: post #8

Same story in Australia, 16 year old boy killed himself, different two men in Lagos https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-68720247 I'm not real confident this is solvable with law enforcement in a world where the police press release is - "located in a slum in Nigeria with a population of 25 million people"

Sure it is. If a country can’t find and enforce a law or extradite someone for doing such a thing, order the carrier of the extortion messages to block the entire country or charge the message carrier itself, especially if minors are involved. Like if Facebook is being a safe haven for Nigerian extortionists, either they block Nigeria or Australia blocks Facebook.

Even assuming this is technically feasible (a premise others don't believe), it is ethically wrong to cut off an entire country from the Internet because a small portion of the population are committing crimes.

Imagine a large American city getting cut off from Facebook because there are many people selling shoplifted items on FB Marketplace and your underfunded govt doesn't have the financial ability to crack down on them. The average person would lose all contact with friends and family because some people are using a service to commit crimes.

Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#18

Post by colechristensen »

thfuran wrote: post #15
colechristensen wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure it is. If a country can’t find and enforce a law or extradite someone for doing such a thing, order the carrier of the extortion messages to block the entire country or charge the message carrier itself, especially if minors are involved. Like if Facebook is being a safe haven for Nigerian extortionists, either they block Nigeria or Australia blocks Facebook.

What you're describing is the end of the internet.

It's really not.

Facebook making money off of illegal activity conveniently hidden behind national borders is not the cornerstone of the Internet.

Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#19

Post by CJefferson »

thfuran wrote: post #15
colechristensen wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure it is. If a country can’t find and enforce a law or extradite someone for doing such a thing, order the carrier of the extortion messages to block the entire country or charge the message carrier itself, especially if minors are involved. Like if Facebook is being a safe haven for Nigerian extortionists, either they block Nigeria or Australia blocks Facebook.

What you're describing is the end of the internet.

Honestly, maybe it’s time to consider that. Saying “oh well, let’s give up on laws because the internet is worldwide and unlimited” doesn’t feel like a good choice to me.

Re: Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media and driving some to suicide

#20

Post by dockerd »

Meta didn't accept emergency request from police and needed county magistrate order to help assist in investigation.

"Meta has a portal for police to file requests to preserve records of accounts connected to criminal investigations. Like other social media companies, it has to hold the records—including emails, IP addresses, message transcripts and general usage history—for 90 days. It only hands over user data if it’s ordered to do so by a court.

There’s one way to expedite the request: file it as an emergency, meaning a child could be harmed or there’s risk of death. Larson believed this case qualified. He told Meta that a 17-year-old was already dead, and there was a high probability other kids were in danger, too.

*Meta declined his request within an hour, he says. “The request you submitted does not rise to the level of an emergency,” the company responded.*"

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