Family fights to extremity "sextortion" scams
Elijah Heacock was a vibrant teen who made radical smile. He "wasn't depressed, helium wasn't sad, helium wasn't angry," begetter John Burnett told CBS Saturday Morning.
But erstwhile Elijah received a threatening substance with an A.I.-generated nude photograph of himself demanding helium wage $3,000 to support it from being sent to friends and family, everything changed. He died by termination soon aft receiving the message, CBS affiliate KFDA reported. Burnett and Elijah's mother, Shannon Heacock, didn't cognize what had happened until they recovered the messages connected his phone.
Elijah was the unfortunate of a sextortion scam, wherever atrocious actors people young radical online and endanger to merchandise explicit images of them. Scammers often inquire for wealth oregon coerce their victims into performing harmful acts. Elijah's parents said they had ne'er adjacent heard of the word until the probe into his death.
"The radical that are aft our children are good organized," Burnett said. "They are good financed, and they are relentless.They don't request the photos to beryllium real, they tin make immoderate they want, and past they usage it to blackmail the child."
Elijah Heacock, left, and John Burnett, center, with Heacock's younger brother.
CBS Saturday Morning
The origins of sextortion scams
Reports of the strategy person skyrocketed: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said it received much than 500,000 reports of sextortion scams targeting minors successful conscionable the past year. At slightest 20 young radical person taken their ain lives due to the fact that of sextortion scams since 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates.
Teen boys person been specifically targeted, the NCMEC said successful 2023, and with the emergence in generative A.I. services, the images don't adjacent request to beryllium real. More than 100,000 reports filed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children this twelvemonth progressive generative A.I., the enactment said.
"You don't really request immoderate method skills astatine this constituent to make this benignant of amerciable and harmful material," Dr. Rebecca Portnoff, the caput of information subject astatine Thorn, a non-profit focused connected preventing kid exploitation online, said. Just looking up however to marque a nude representation of idiosyncratic volition bring up hunt results for apps, websites and different resources, Portnoff said.
The situation whitethorn look overwhelming. But determination are solutions, Portnoff said. Thorn has its ain initiative, "Safety By Design," which outlines barriers A.I. companies should acceptable erstwhile processing their technology. Those barriers are designed to assistance trim sextortion, Thorn said. A fistful of large A.I. companies person agreed to the run principles, Thorn says.
"There are real, tangible solutions that bash beryllium that are being deployed contiguous that tin assistance to forestall this benignant of misuse," Portnoff said.
Government entities are besides moving to combat sextortion. The recently-passed "Take It Down" Act, championed by Melania Trump and signed into instrumentality by President Trump, makes it a national transgression to station existent and fake sexually explicit images of idiosyncratic online without their consent. The instrumentality besides requires societal media companies and different websites to region specified images wrong 48 hours of a victim's request.
Elijah's parents said they ne'er privation different families to endure similar they have. They person fought for change, CBS affiliate WLKY reported. They said they anticipation the "Take It Down" Act volition marque a difference.
"It's benignant of similar a slug successful a war. It's not going to triumph the war," Burnett said. "No warfare is ever won by 1 bullet. You got to triumph battles. You got to triumph fights. And we're successful it."
Nicole Valdes is simply a analogous based successful Nashville. Valdes was astir precocious a upwind analogous with FOX Weather. Since joining FOX Weather successful 2021, Valdes covered breaking and processing weather-related quality for the streaming service. Valdes reported from astir 40 states, starring web sum of Hurricane Ian's interaction connected Florida, arsenic good arsenic countless tornadoes, flood, and wildfires. As a arrogant bilingual journalist, Valdes enactment her skills guardant to nutrient and study an in-depth portion connected Hurricane Maria's interaction to Puerto Rico. Prior to this role, Valdes worked arsenic a newsman and fill-in anchor successful Phoenix, Arizona, wherever she led the station's sum of the 2020 Presidential election. She was besides a multimedia writer for the CBS-affiliate successful Fort Myers, Florida. Valdes graduated from the University of Florida successful Gainesville.
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