Aussie teens use Grindr and Facebook to blackmail men

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March 1, 2017 | Sex & Society

Aussie teens use Grindr and Facebook to blackmail men

Four teenagers, aged 16 to 18, were arrested on Friday in Canberra, Australia after police discovered a scheme to blackmail men on Grindr.

According to reports, the teens engaged with men through the app or Facebook and agreed to meet up for a sexual encounter (often at the victim's house). But before the hook-up took place, the men were informed they were talking to minors and if they didn't pay up, they would be outed to police, neighbors and work colleagues as "pedos."

The scheme was well planned, with the boys creating exhaustive dossiers on their victims, which included photos and screenshots of all the conversations. Possible crimes for chatting up a minor were listed as well.

Police know of 10 men who were targeted for blackmail, but expect there are many more men who have yet to come forward. One of the victims of the scheme committed suicide last month.

Much of these interactions appear to have taken place at the beginning of the year. News started to spread in January about men being targeted on Grindr, prompting the city's AIDS Action Council to put out a warning.

"They've been supposedly blackmailed in terms of 'I will make it known who you are' and that sort of thing around using the hook-up apps ... and there has been some indication of potentially meeting them and then beating them," AIDS Action Council director Philippa Moss said at the time.

Following the arrests, police uncovered a video in the phone of the 16-year-old alleged offender. The clip included an image of one of the possible victims and pictures of cash, with the word "homo" being repeated over "cheerful" music.

Ben Cartwright, ACT Policing Criminal Investigations Superintendent, said. "These victims did the right thing by coming forward and that's allowed us to identify the alleged offenders and put them before court."

Yet another reminder to be careful when hooking up online.