Social media is exacerbating the fear when it comes to extortion, thoughts shared by the man responsible for combating this type of crime. Here's the story.
00:00Police say they have been thus far unable to link extortion demands with kidnappings or murders.
00:06ASP Richard Smith believes social media is contributing to the fear which drives victims to pay.
00:12We have not identified a link between the homicide, any homicide, as well as kidnapping for these extortions thus far.
00:19We have not been able to establish that. However, I understand the fear that persons have, business people have, as it relates to that.
00:27But the thing about it is, it is the fear that drives the person to pay the money.
00:31So, the thing is, these suspects realize that this is a lucrative business because it is being aired so much on social media that it's creating a public panic.
00:41And when that happens, everybody will be scared. And this is where the predators, these suspects, will capitalize on that.
00:48They have been 32 reported extortion attempts for 2024 thus far.
00:53When we conduct our investigations, some of them might, one particular victim might, demands may have been made to them on multiple occasions.
01:03So in one instance, we had one victim, nine demands were made to that victim. So we have nine conks related to that victim.
01:13In 2023, there were 141 counts of extortion, with one victim paying money on 133 occasions.
01:22One suspect had as many as 22 charges.
01:26Police ASP Smith says have received information about suspects quoting their would-be victims' bank account balances.
01:33But police, he says, are yet to establish a link with banks being the source of the leak.
01:38Smith says it can be an inside job.
01:41I want to say that, you know, we must be careful as business people. We must be careful with how we handle our documents.
01:48Probably, we can have our documents, so we may have our documents lying around in the office, and employees may have access to your documents.
01:57So I'm just urging the employers, businessmen, to be careful with their documents.
02:02Please do not allow your employees to know too much of your business, because they would be in a position to supply that to persons if they are criminally inclined.
02:11The ASP is urging businessmen and women to contact the extortion hotline, and the police will deal with the matter for you.
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