| 17/02/2021 – 14:08 (GMT-4)
The National Association of Actors of Cuba has denounced a case of cyber intimidation against an actress and has issued a warning to union professionals about the danger they are exposed to when delivering intimate photos to cybercriminals.
“From this platform we want to report a case of cyber intimidation, identity theft and attempted cyber fraud and ‘sextoration’,” the Association reported in a post posted on its Facebook account.
Apparently, several Cuban actresses have been contacted through the social network Instagram since the beginning of February by one or more people who have replaced the identity of prestigious institutions and directors, with the intention of obtaining intimate photos of them. In order to obtain them, the criminals created false stories of the Cuban filmmakers Juan Carlos Cremata, Gerardo Chijona or the Chilean Silvio Caiozzi.
“The person behind these profiles shows interest in these actresses for an alleged production that would be very well paid, talks about an alleged casting and asks for intimate photos justifying the need for them to decide whether or not the actress can choose the role. It also puts pressure on the photos to be sent as soon as possible “, denounces the National Association of Actors of Cuba.
Cyber harassment or virtual harassment is the use of digital media to harass a person or group of people through personal attacks, disclosing confidential or false information among other means and, according to Wikipedia, can be a crime.
In turn, sexual extortion or extortion is a form of sexual exploitation, in which a person is induced or blackmailed – usually through internet messaging applications – with an image or video of themselves naked or having sex.
In general, extortionists communicate with victims through fake profiles on social networks under the guise of good intentions. According to the digital encyclopedia consulted, the victim is forced to have sex with someone, offering more erotic or pornographic images, money or other considerations, under the threat of spreading the original images if he does not meet the requirements of the owner.
“We want to warn actors and actresses about this danger. We must always protect our integrity and image and verify the legitimacy of profiles on social networks “, advises the Association, while reporting that, fortunately, none of the actresses contacted fell into the trap and reported these profiles on Instagram.
The false identities used were: ICRT (with fake account @icrt_oficial), Juan Carlos Cremata (@silviocaiozzi), Gerardo Chijona (name of his fake profile is not specified) and Silvio Caiozzi (@silviocaiozzi).
The Association also requests that the information be shared and that the account be reported: https://instagram.com/silviocaiozzi?igshid=1fghyoxi2nbxu
This form of harassment has also been suffered by artists such as Taylor Swift, Selena Gómez, Hailey Bieber, among many others, who have even decided to abandon their web accounts to avoid negative and ugly comments, as reported Infobae.
According to this digital portal, cyberbullying is an increasingly common practice. The victim is intimidated and threatened through social networks or the internet to put them in a state of vulnerability and even depressed.
In June 2019, the case of the sextor suffered by the 21-year-old actress and singer, Bella Thorne, famous for her work in “Famous in love”, and the Disney Channel series “Shake it up” was known. Like I said Yasss, the news portal Mediaset Spain, Thorne said she was blackmailed into posting images she sent to a person via her Twitter account.
Faced with the pressure exerted by the cyber aggressor, Bella Thorne decided to report the case to the FBI and also to publish those photos in which her naked body could be seen on social networks to deactivate her threats: “Tonight I will sleep better knowing that I have regained my strength You cannot control my life and you never can. “