Social media accounts being held hostage with indecent images of children

It’s been highlighted by Action Fraud that social media accounts are being hacked, and that this is on the rise. Specifically, and concerningly, people’s accounts are being used to display indecent images of children. Videos have also been reported as having been uploaded.

The number of reported incidents this year alone amounts to over 60. As you can imagine, this would be extremely stressful for the unsuspecting account owner/holder. It’s with that in mind that guidance has been issued on how to protect your accounts, together with what to do should you have sight of such images.

The police guidance is below, and we would ask that this information is passed to family and friends. More awareness can only be a good thing in tackling what is a quite  a distressing topic.

• If you come across indecent images of children online, report it to the police by calling 101 or visiting your local police station. You should take with you the device you were using when you came across the images

• Do not, under any circumstances, screenshot, save or share the image. You will not be required to share the images with the police when making a report

• Use 2-step verification (2SV) to protect your social media accounts. 2SV can keep people from gaining access to your accounts, even if they know your password

• Victims of account hacking should not pay any ransoms, whether it is monetary or in the form of a ‘testimony’ video.

If your social media account has been hacked, you should report it to Action Fraud by visiting the Action Fraud website – https://orlo.uk/u4LZ7 – or by calling 0300 123 2040