"I think this is the worst scam in the world," said Paul Raffile, a sextortion and cybercrime researcher based in Connecticut. "There is no other scam that involves targeting children, coercing them into a sexually compromising situation, exploiting them, blackmailing them. There's no other scams that I think even compare to this."
Tagged with suicide
A pro-suicide forum is under investigation by the UK's online regulator - its first using new powers under the Online Safety Act.
The forum, which Ofcom has not named, is understood to be a site BBC News has been investigating for the last three years, linking it to at least 50 deaths in the UK.
Detectives found a "suicide kit" in the family's Southampton home, containing various poisons, pills and other things Vlad had bought after joining the chat group.
"He's researched and understood, and been told where to buy these things and what to buy," says DS Chris Barrow from Hampshire Police. "So, without the website, Vlad wouldn't have been able to put together this set of items and ingredients with which to take his own life."
'Let’s be real for a minute. When was the last time you asked a mate not just how they were doing but, you know, how they were really doing? You know what it’s like.
Your mate is struggling but you’re not quite sure what the right thing to do or say is. It can be tempting to brush it off and not ask in case things get awkward.'
Videos and resources for young adults on subject of self harm and suicide
More than 700 people in the UK have posted on a pro-suicide website looking for someone to die with, a BBC investigation has found.
The children’s commissioner for England has said she fears there could be a repeat of the Molly Russell tragedy, after research showed almost half of children have seen harmful content online, including material promoting self-harm and suicide.
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