Recently, a certain YouTuber raised suspicions about an ordinary individual visiting illegal adult entertainment establishments. Subsequently, the YouTuber caused controversy by leaking and publicly sharing bodycam phishing photos without the consent of the person involved. The incident eventually led to a police investigation for illegal distribution of filmed materials and defamation, once again highlighting the seriousness of bodycam phishing crimes.
Bodycam phishing refers to a crime where perpetrators unlawfully obtain videos showing the victim’s nudity or partial body exposure during video chats, then use these recordings to threaten and extort money. The criminals send APK files to induce victims to install them, thereby gaining access to necessary contact information. Afterwards, they commit crimes by demanding money under the threat of distributing the recorded videos.
According to data released last year by the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, there were 32 cases of bodycam phishing in Daegu alone from the beginning of this year until October, with damages amounting to 62 million KRW. This marks a sharp increase compared to 18 cases (53 million KRW in damages) in 2017 and 28 cases (59 million KRW) last year. Over 90% of bodycam phishing victims nationwide were male, and notably, 40% of these were confirmed to be minors.
Additionally, a survey conducted last year on 43,544 middle and high school students enrolled in domestic schools revealed that 5% of them had received obscene materials without consent, and 1.4% had been threatened with the distribution of illegally filmed photos or videos of themselves.
Although bodycam phishing is a well-known phishing method online, the number of victims continues to rise. This is because, alongside advancements in digital technology, criminals’ methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated and new criminal techniques are being developed. Since it is difficult for victims to respond alone or make proper judgments regarding bodycam phishing damage, there are calls for additional countermeasures.
In response, the digital sex crime specialized response company ‘LavaWave’ (CEO Kim Junyeop) analyzes new criminal methods and behavioral patterns of bodycam phishing perpetrators through its self-developed LAVAR CS system, providing tailored solutions and video extortion response services to assist victims. Utilizing big data and victim profiling, as well as its proprietary precision analysis system and variable response solutions, LavaWave prevents recorded videos from being distributed to acquaintances in contact lists or posted on online sites in advance.
In fact, LavaWave has helped resolve bodycam phishing cases involving video distribution extortion over the past five years, with 875 cases in 2015, 1,570 in 2016, 2,345 in 2017, 3,764 in 2018, and 3,977 in 2019?more than twice the number of cases officially reported to the police.
Moreover, based on years of experience, LavaWave has established a 24-hour monitoring system with a counseling team composed of IT security experts and counseling professionals to prepare for urgent responses, thereby preventing potential secondary damage and video distribution and enabling swift action.
Kim Taewon, head of the Strategic Planning Team, stated, “Bodycam phishing involves obtaining parts of the victim’s body through video chats, leading to extortion of money or demands for illegal production of sexually exploitative videos, so the damage can be significant. If you become a victim of bodycam phishing, rather than complying with the perpetrators’ demands, it is crucial to find a trustworthy security expert to handle the threats and prevent further leaks.”
Meanwhile, LavaWave, established in 2015 as a digital sex crime response specialist company, provides solutions to alleviate the suffering of digital sex crime victims through counseling for crimes like bodycam phishing and services such as post deletion for the ‘right to be forgotten,’ utilizing its proprietary crawling technology and big data.
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