Sexual extortion scam is a type of fraud in which scammers demand money from their victims by threatening to leak their “private” photos.
According to The Washington Times, Instagram has developed new security features to reduce these threats.
These features, developed especially for the protection of young users, increase the privacy and security measures of the platform.
SCREENSHOT BLOCKING FEATURE
One of the most important updates introduced by Instagram was the feature that prevents taking screenshots of content shared in stories.
This update improves users’ privacy, especially by preventing lost stories from being permanently compromised.
According to TechCrunch, this feature provides more advanced security than Snapchat, which warns the user when a screenshot is taken, making it harder for content to be used by malicious people.
In addition, Instagram blocks access to disappearing stories through web browsers, which reduces the possibility of these contents being saved.
SUSPICIOUS ACCOUNTS ARE RESTRICTED
By blocking suspicious accounts from accessing users’ follower lists and tagged photos, Instagram reduces the chances of scammers reaching their victims.
This restriction stands out as an important step towards increasing the security of users, as sexual blackmail fraudsters often identify targets through social network analysis.
Geolocation Alerts
Instagram will offer geolocation alerts as another measure against sexual blackmail scams.
These warnings aim to reduce the risk of falling into fraud traps by indicating whether the people users are chatting with are from another country.
The FBI reports that blackmail scams mostly come from West Africa and Southeast Asia. These warnings will increase users’ security by informing them of potential dangers in advance.
STRONGER PROTECTION FOR YOUNG ACCOUNTS
Within the scope of Instagram’s new policies, “Youth Accounts”, developed to protect users under the age of 18, were put into effect.
These accounts will have stricter restrictions and security measures against sexual content.
Additionally, nude images in private messages sent to young users will be automatically blurred, and this feature will be activated by default.
NUDIST PROTECTION
Instagram has introduced a new feature that will provide nudity protection across the platform.
This feature, which was tested this year and gave successful results, will automatically blur images containing nudity sent in direct messages.
Additionally, users will be warned about the risks they may face when sending private photos.
META’S SECURITY STEPS
With these steps, Meta aims to increase online security and especially protect young users.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies report that blackmail scams specifically target male youths, and that these cases have increased significantly in recent years.
It was stated that young people were victims of more than 13,000 sexual blackmail cases between 2021 and 2023.
With these new measures, Instagram remains committed to protecting its users from online exploitation, while further raising the platform’s security and privacy standards.