George Mason students fall victim to sextortion scheme

Students and staff at George Mason University are being alerted by law enforcement after campus police became aware of two instances of alleged sextortion in under a week.

Authorities at the Fairfax, Virginia, college sent an alert to GMU community members on Monday after two students came forward within days of one another with claims of sextortion, or blackmail attempts where victims are told to pay a fee to prevent explicit photographs or video from being distributed. 

“Over the past week, Mason Police received reports of two separate incidents of ’sextortion’ in which unknown suspects gained the trust of Mason Students over the internet and enticed the students to broadcast sexual acts over their webcams,” the George Mason University Police Department posted on its Facebook page last Thursday.

Capt. Brian R. Cozby said in an email to staff and students on Monday this week that the sexual acts were recorded, and that the victims were told they had to pay $5,000 each or risk the videos being released online, the Washington Post reported. 

Sextortion schemes are nothing new, but some Mason students were appalled to hear that two colleagues became recent victims within days of each other. 

“To hear that there were not one, but two more cases was really disturbing,” said student Laura Kay Sherman, according to ABC News.

“I think everyone puts their lives on the internet, I think we should back away from that,” added freshman Kayla Carter.

University officials declined to comment when contacted by the Post, and GWU spokesman Michael Sandler told the newspaper that an investigation is ongoing.

GMU police said law enforcement agencies internationally are seeing an uptick in sextortion cases, and urged any potential victims to alert authorities immediately. 

In April, a report released by the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that reported cases of sextortion increased by 32 percent since 2010.

The FBI determined separately last year that a review of 43 sextortion investigation determined “at least 28 percent of these cases had at least one victim who committed or attempted suicide.”

Police at GMU wrote on Facebook that two law enforcement officials are present each time the school holds orientation events for new students, and agreed that incoming freshmen should be encouraged to conduct themselves safely on the internet in addition to around campus.