How do you know the identity of a person who blackmails or threatens you via social networks? Step by step guide

THE extortion is a crime based on forcing a person to act, using violence or intimidation and is considered one of the oldest types of blackmail in the world. However, with the rise of new technologies, more forms of extortion have appeared in the world .

Since then, the great proliferation of means of communication, allow contacting people from all over the world and, therefore, are exploited by cyber criminals who seek to accomplish their tasks. Considering that in Spain, each year more than 6000 people are affected by these practices resulting from social networks .

Consequently, in order not to fall victim to this type of threats on these platforms, it is interesting for users to know how they can know the identity a person blackmailing them on social media to unmask it. In addition, it is also interesting to discern some recommendations to avoid falling into these traps and, in addition, we will indicate what the blackmail law stipulates in different Spanish speaking countries .

Learn step by step to know the identity of a person who blackmailed you on social media

The first step to prevent the execution of blackmail or extortion via social networks against you is to accept that you are involved in this situation . Since, in this way, you can act on the matter and, one way or another, track down the malicious person who executes it . Once you specified that you are a victim of this practice , it is recommended that you do everything possible to uncover the cybercriminal who is committing the extortion in question.

For which it is essential to know your identity and therefore, below, we show you some basic steps that will allow you to obtain this information without complications:

Search their profile

One of the most important aspects to be able to know the identity of a person in the environment of social networks, resides in his profile . Since, thanks to him, you will be able to know who it is and how it works on a certain platform .

However, he not enough to look at his profile , because at that point anyone can register using their real name or even someone else's. Therefore, it is advisable to go beyond informations provided by a first page profile and search for it , hard.

During this investigation process, we advise you to know and / or verify the following information:

• When the profile has summer created .
• When is the user's birthday.
• What kind of information you share habitually.
• With which users it relates and how many of them can be closest.
• What does it show in his photographs.
• What were your activities the most recents?
• What is your phone number , if it is available from your profile.

In addition, to get the opinion of other users about this person, you can also choose to enter their name in the search engine of the social network on which they blackmailed . This way you will check whether other people have also been victims of this type of threats or not .

Try to receive their email

Despite the fact that in some social profiles it is very easy to get the address e- mail of users, the truth is that in others it is not such an easy task. Since then, many people prefer to hide this data to benefit from greater confidentiality , especially if it is an individual attacking other people through these channels. However, it is also not impossible to find the attacker's email address.

For example, you can go to google to find this information , simply by entering the name of this person in the bar of looking at next to the word "gmail", "hotmail" or "outlook" which are the most used email clients. So, it is likely that among the results they will show you the full email linked to a social network account (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc).

Another alternative is to use the strengths of LinkedIn to get a certain email . Of course, this tactic will work if the attacker has already registered with the professional social network. To verify the data in question, you can search for the person via LinkedIn et if she has an active profile, you will have relevant information such as: her email, her mobile phone and / or her Website .

Examine the account they are requesting payment to

To find out the identity of a cybercriminal, in many cases, it is not enough to investigate his profile or to know which e-mail address he uses to operate on the network . Because a lot of these people use false data to attack their potential victims and not be easily discovered. For this reason, it is also interesting to inform, as much as possible, about the bank account on which they ask you to make the corresponding payment .

While, in most cases, this class of criminals allows the victim to proceed with the transaction as quickly as possible , while feeling attacked and fearful. From this very important information, you will surely be able to unmask the person behind it because, almost always, cybercriminals choose to provide their own bank account in order to to profit from the money they obtain fraudulently, without complications.

Now, to investigate said account, you can resort to the following techniques:

Pay attention to its structure to know the entity to which it belongs

First of all, you can check which bank corresponds to the account that the attacker gave you .

To do this, below we indicate the meaning of the codes that these accounts normally have:

• Bank code : corresponds to First 4 digits and corresponds to the standard model of national codes used by the bank in question. In other words, these numbers set one bank apart from others.
• Branch code : You will find below the code of the office which is also composed of 4 digits . This means that it allows to know in which bank branch the holder carried out the procedures to open his account.
• Control code : it refers to a defined number which makes it possible to confirm the two preceding codes and those which follow, in order to avoid any error during a transaction. This one has only 2 numbers .
• Account number : Finally, you will find all the numbers that identify a certain person's bank account . Which were chosen exclusively for the owner.

Check if this account number exists and / or is correct

Nowadays, with technological development , you can get different online solutions that allow you to check if a bank account exists or not and even if its combination of numbers is correct . With this information, you can have a greater security to report the blackmailer and charge a serious felony.

For example, one of these online tools, you can get it via this url : http://www.aplicacionesinformaticas.com/programas/gratis/ctabanco.php There they explain step by step what you need to do to acquire the information you want . Taking into account that, like this one, there are many other alternatives online .

Report and find out who owns the account by court order

Although this is a technique that requires more procedures, it is undoubtedly considered to be the most reliable method to know the owner of a certain bank account . Of course, this measure will depend on the laws of your country and the flexibility that entities manage around an individual's bank details.

In general, to know who owns a bank account, it is necessary that you make a report on the extortion that causes you and that you request a court decision from the competent judge , in order to know the ownership of the bank account of interest. This will not be allowed that if the case and its seriousness justify it .

4 tips to avoid being blackmailed on social networks

Unfortunately nowadays over 30% of social media users expose their personal information without any restriction and, therefore, are potential victims of cybercriminals who seek data to carry out their blackmail or extortion. Consequently, he It is important to take certain measures so that these criminals do not perform their tasks and that you can avoid falling victim to them .

That's why, to provide you with the tools you need to protect yourself from these criminals, below we give you 4 basic and substantial tips that you can put into practice now:

Cut the blackmailer

It is essential that, as a first step, you choose to completely cut off contact with the blackmailer . In other words, you shouldn't reply to them for any reason and if you have already done so, it is best to do not continue to do so and take screenshots of any conversation you had with them (this, as proof of the fact).

In this sense, you can also block the fraudster in question to prevent them from sending you threats . So, in case he creates another account and decides to harass you again via another profile, ignore an unknown contact or reply to messages .

At this point, it is important that you avoided also from cancel your social media accounts because with this you run the risk that the cybercriminal can usurp your identity, usurp your identity and hijack your confidential information ; which would worsen the situation. Instead, protect your accounts by changing their passwords and your profile privacy settings . Also remove all those questionable users from your database.

Keep calm

It is normal for you to be afraid if a malicious person contacts you through your social networks and extorts you. However, in these types of situations, it is best that you do your utmost to stay calm and don't fall into your trap , in any way, in not even threatening him back .

On the contrary, if you have a lawyer, it you better report everything that happens to you to the professional audit and, in addition, you contact the police to file a complaint . In this way, the authorities will be responsible for implementing a relevant solution for protect your confidentiality and avoid any form of fraud , because there are many victims similar to you.

Never pay anything

Just as it is essential to remain calm, even if you feel fear, it is also important to not give in to blackmail by paying the amount of money requested by the extortionist . Since he continue to constantly asking you for more money and can also stalk other people in the same way.

Therefore, it is better ignore their threats, report them to the corresponding entities and avoid giving them the money they ask for . In this way, you can avoid great financial loss and avoid future blackmail of the same modus operandi through social networks.

Report it to the authorities

As we discussed earlier, it is essential that you remain calm and that you leave everything in the hands of the authorities . To do this, denounce the person who extorts you online so that they can be arrested and thus not harm more people. It is the best solution to increase your security and protect your personal information .

If you are spending your Spain it is advised to contact the National Police Technological Research Brigade and civil guard telematic crime group . Since these entities are responsible for the safety of Internet users on Spanish territory. In view of this, it is valuable that you save whatever evidence you have (chats, screenshots, etc.) , to present them to these institutions and thus, it will be easier for you to prove that you have been the victim of extortion.

What does the law say about blackmail and how is it punished in the main Spanish speaking countries?

In virtually every country in the world, blackmail is a crime sanctioned by government entities, since it interferes with a certain person's privacy and can affect them cruelly . But you are probably wondering what the law says about blackmail and how is this aggression punished?

Therefore, in this section of the article we will tell you what the code says in some Spanish speaking countries:

Spain

Basically, in Spain the law on blackmail establishes the following: If someone demands from another person a reward or a sum of money under the threat of spreading facts related to his private life or family relationships which are not publicly known and affect his credit, interest or reputation , will be charged by the extortion charge. For which he will be punished with two to four years in prison .

Whereas, if this situation is linked to the threat of denounce or hand over the commission of a crime to the prosecution , the latter may refrain from indicting the said crime whose reparation has been threatened, in order to simplify the sanction of the offense . This, except that he is punished with a prison sentence of more than two years. Which, basically, will depend on the judge to be able to lower the sanction by one or two degrees .

Mexico

When it comes to extortion, the Mexican code also penalizes anyone who breaks the law in this way. Accordingly, it establishes the following: Whoever, without any rights, compels them to give, do or tolerate anything, by acquiring a profit causing material damage to any individual , it will be jailed between two or eight years , depending on the severity. of the case.

In addition to this, criminals will also be punished with a fine that will have to be canceled from 40 to 170 days . In addition, the penalties may be a little heavier, if the coercion is carried out by an official, a criminal association, a member of a police force or the Mexican armed forces. What will be have sanctioned by revocation and disqualification from one to five years .

Chile

In general, the Chilean penal code also punishes, with ardor, the crime of extortion and his orders are similar to those obtained by criminals accused of theft . Therefore, the penalty consists of a higher penalty in its minimum degree.

Consequently, any person who seriously threatens others to cause harm which constitutes a crime of blackmail against their morals, their honor or their property, will be punished as follows:

• If you make the threat by asking for a sum of money or by imposing any other illegitimate condition, in addition to achieving its objective; the guilty will be punished with a lower penalty in its average to maximum degrees .
• If he blackmailed under any conditions without reach his goal, the offender will be punished in its minimum to medium degrees .
• If the threat formulated was not conditional, in general, the individual will be punished with less than its minimum level of imprisonment .
• If threats are executed by office through an envoy, they are considered as aggravating circumstances of the sanction .

Colombia

According to the Supreme Court of Colombia , intimidation is understood as the announcement corresponding to an immediate fear, serious and likely to inspire fear, based on words or attitudes threatening or threatening, using physical means or even weapons.