so here for the past couple days ive been getting messages claiming i (being 20 years old) hit on a 15 year saying id send graphic images... i did not do this but to keep them from reporting it to police/to friends via facebook they said to send $500 via western union and id never hear about it again... so my question is, do i have a case here to clear my name (if they report it) and sue them for extortion? i kept all the messages and am thinking about seeking legal help tomorrow to at least keep my name cleared..they claim they already reported it to the police and gave me a police report # and that if i sent the money now theyd call again and say they mislead them...so my thing is whats the best course of action?

seek out an attorney for sure.

Yeh id say go to the police over this yourself too. Cheaper than a attorney and they prolly send it to 100s of people and only 1-2 need to bite for it to be worthwhile. Pop into your station explain and provide logs if needed. Your crime reference number is 1337 how do u know they aren't just stringing u along and do u know this girl? along

they prob are, but looking up my home address, my phone number, my family on fb....its a bit over the line and they claim they filed a report so im going to legal to see if they did or not, im almost positive they didnt, but im gonna protect myself first...and no i have no idea who "she" is, i just got emails and there spamming my inbox with messages making threats and saying pay the money or else...which even if they did make a report, i have enough bs to back myself up with...not to mention my computer is dead and gone (its not a good idea to drop it four floors) so idk how they intend to prove anything, i aint sending any amount of money, just dont want any charges to come as a sexual predator, cause even if proven innocent, that sticks with u and ruins everything im going for

See a lawyer, and the cops. In that order.

dude they cant just go to the police and claim you said or did any of this if they dont have proof. especially if they claim it was done via internet. they would have to show proof of it.

You have nothing to worry about mate.

Report it, because it's extortion -- but they're idiots if they've actually reported you because to do that they need to provide the police with information on who they are.

It's just a stupid phishing scheme.

As for your right to sue them, I doubt it. You can only sue someone if you can prove that you've suffered financial harm. You haven't. They've commit a crime, and if they're in a reasonable country they can be charged with it. But you won't get any money out of this.

-Fooglmog
Guy with no clue.

Foog they don't have to give them any info on themself they can report anonymously (sp?)

Second of all the "evidence" they need is people saying you did it those are called witnesses. And they can snitch anonymously. The legal system will fluff you over if you try to ignore it.

I'd go talk to the police and hope they arn't idiots...in my case when I got into a fight I skipped the police and talked to the DA and had the case dropped. But if they went to the police they will probably be seeking you out soon enough probably with a warrant I suggest if you got any child porno you better burn your computer.

But with that said i'm sure the police will be able to see this is a scam.

From what I read you have more physical proof then they do. However I would report it too. Guarantee nothing comes of it as they are probably in Somalia or the like.

You can always check the header of the email and get the IP for its origin. That would at least give you more peace of mind. Cause if it does end up being Russia, or Somalia or something than at least you know there is no report anywhere. :)

call da FBI. or wait, it's not ZEN that's doing it to you, is it?

if theyre trying to take you for $500 what do you think you would gain in a civil suit lol. probably a welfare check or some food stamps.

Pretty sure you can easily sue. Fooglmog is incorrect on this one. If someone commits a criminal offense against you aka extortion you can sue for and likely win punitive damages for emotional distress etc... as long as you keep proof of the extortion.

talk to a lawyer, get a deal with him that he gets a cut into whatever he can sue for, instead of paying him.

then talk to the police, with your lawyer.

if you are in the states, your golden, you can sue for anything.

if you like paying lawyers...

probably be cheaper to pay the person $500 than to hire a lawyer to look into it.

BRD - get legal council, and do not discuss the matter publicly or privately until you have been advised by a qualified professional. If these guys have any smarts at all, they may be able to falsify enough digital records to cause you a lot of headaches, even if they can't actually bring legal proceedings against you.

If it's of any comfort though, had they reported this to the police, you likely would have known about it by now.

I'm sure it's a scam, and you may have some legal recourse...although I highly doubt a lawsuit is one of them. I was unable to find any sort of legal precedent for a lawsuit like this with a quick search of Nexis. Not to mention that likely if they're scamming for a whopping $500, you'd be trying to squeeze blood from a turnip anyways.

You CAN, however, (legally) make their lives a living hell if you wish - your lawyer should be able to advise you more.

Good luck man.

One thing that stood out like a sore thumb was the infereance that, "they claim they already reported it to the police and gave me a police report # and that if i sent the money now theyd call again and say they mislead them..."

Just imagine for one second how that sounds BRD.

Save yourself some time and good money. Don't communicate in any fashion, absolutely none! Keep a record of all your messages and at some point, YOU, report it to the local authorities in your area. If you didn't do anything wrong, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Someone who is attempting to extort funds in this manner has got to be pretty stupid and I mean, very stupid. i repeat, do not attempt to communicate with this party, et/al.

Take this data to your local authorities and provide them with all of the details. The only problem I see here is a jurisdiction issue which could become challenging. The internet is a wide open world of opportunity and in this case, a most certain questionable opportunity. This is possibly an intelligent scam artist that knows they can actually get away with this and is working on percentages.

Don't waste money with a lawyer, get it to the police and start your own police file number as soon as possible, if you haven't already done so.

Good luck!

If the party is from another jurisdiction, they are likely to be charged in that municipality/state, depending on where it is and what their laws are on the subject. Most likely BRD's local DA would hand it over to them if there is a chargeable offense.

ya, this is a scam

report it to the police as such and you won't have a problem

or just do nothing and you likely won't have a problem either.

responding to them at all was a mistake, IMO :p

Copy and paste part of the email into google in quotes and see if something comes up, its probably a mass spam email that lots of others have gotten. If so, you can probably just ignore it.

That's a good idea...sounds like a scam or blackmail, both of which are illegal...not to mention the harrassment on top of it all. I would def report it to the authorities.

They are probably in another country, why aren't your facebook settings on maximum privacy? You'll get targeted for identity theft next. They are asking for western union because it can't be traced/recovered once it goes overseas. They use the amount 500 dollars because its relatively small enough that people are likely to pay rather than the threat of police.

However all reported incidences of crimes against children are logged and investigated, if they actually did report it and had proof you'd already be investigated at some stage. The fact that they asked for money highlights that its most likely extortion. They tell you that they have reported you already so you don't think about the situation.

I would google it.


There was a person at my work that nearly got fired because their email got hijacked and the managers though it was them sending the emails to customers... I was like 'you can't be serious... and had to defend them and demonstrate how it was obviously not them'.

i have seen a few people in our community post here and ask for advise when they have been accused of molesting a child. it is amazing how relaxed they seem about posting such a thing. the people that respond with advise is the "no vaseline" part of the cluster fluff.
i find it real hard to believe that anyone over the age of 12 can not spot a internet scam.
kiddie fiddlers in the united states go to prison. they swiftly get prosecuted.......... it not like spitting on the sidewalk.

There is probably more getting away with it than I am comfortable with.

thats a bit of a wtf topic shift. :X

People fall for scams out of fear and or greed.