Blackmail is a concept related to legal and psychological fields, implying a situation of extortion, demands for remuneration, concessions or other actions of a material and emotional-behavioral nature. Unlike coercion, in the case of blackmail, a person is not simply forced to perform actions to his own detriment, but using threats to disclose information of a compromising or false nature, or in exchange situations (taking hostages, threats to the life or health of loved ones, ruin of a corporation, and so on ).
The breadth of the concept provides for a wide variety of negative consequences for the victim, while the blackmailer’s calculation is that the threats he envisions are more destructive or unacceptable than fulfilling the demands. That is, there is no option for a favorable outcome of events for the victim; a person can only choose the least harm. This is how money pays off for life, granting privileges for preserving one’s reputation, preserving a marriage for the opportunity to see children, and other options.
Punishment for blackmail is provided for in all criminal codes and is considered a crime against the person, with various aggravating circumstances. However, the percentage of legal requests is significantly lower than the number of actual cases, since the victim is usually in a disadvantageous position and, in order to receive legal assistance and protection, has to talk about the material being blackmailed. It is the reluctance of publicity or the fear of the blackmailer fulfilling his demands that forces many people to cooperate instead of stopping dialogue and negotiations.
What's the threat?
If a person is blackmailed, that is, they are extorted for something material or to perform any actions in the interests of the criminal, then we can say that the crime will be classified under Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the liability provided for is as follows:
- Arrest for a period of 6 months.
- Restriction of freedom for up to 4 years.
- Forced labor for a period of up to 4 years in combination with restriction of freedom for a period of 2 years or without such addition.
- Imprisonment for up to 4 years and a financial penalty in the amount of 80,000 rubles.
- If the crime was committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy - imprisonment for up to 7 years.
- If the crime was committed by a group, but the material value of the object of extortion is from 1 million rubles or more - imprisonment for up to 15 years.
- Deprivation of the right to hold a certain position or conduct certain activities for a period of up to 36 months.
In addition, if the blackmailer begins to disseminate personal information (for example, send screenshots of correspondence, personal photos), then Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Violation of privacy” is additionally applied. This is subject to arrest or a financial penalty in the amount of 25,000 rubles.
"The Tempters"
The instrument of influence is a reward.
People from this group are the most difficult to identify. They do not intimidate, but give a false sense of love and protection, for which they soon demand payment. Such people seem generous and caring, but in reality they do nothing for nothing. If a person does not fulfill the request, then the “tempter” can instantly turn into a “punisher” and start making threats.
All people are susceptible to the influence of “tempters”, because to achieve their goals they use positive, rather than negative, emotions, which increases their chances over other types of blackmailers.
If you are being blackmailed, what should you do?
The first thing you should do is calm down and not panic. Soberly assess the situation, try to find out whether the criminal really has certain information, the dissemination of which could harm you, and whether it will harm you as much as the criminal described to you.
It is very important that in no case should you immediately follow the blackmailer’s lead and satisfy his demands. In most cases, after receiving what he wants, the criminal can leave the victim alone only for a while. After this, the blackmail resumes, and the demands become greater. And so on ad infinitum.
If you are blackmailed, what should you do? Try to follow this algorithm:
- Save evidence of blackmail - turn on the recording on your phone, take screenshots of correspondence, save letters by email, take a photo or video.
- Tell your family about what happened - this way they will know what is happening and will be able to confirm that at a certain time such a fact actually took place.
- Contact the police - a statement must be made to the territorial police department.
How to properly communicate with a blackmailer? Please note the following rules:
- Do not be nervous and do not threaten the criminal - respond calmly, without emotion, even if you are provoked to do so.
- Show the criminal your insolvency - in most cases, if the criminal does not know the victim personally, he will simply “lag behind”, since there is nothing to take.
- Ignore - this tactic also works well, but, however, not always.
It is strongly not recommended to solve such problems on your own: catch the blackmailer and physically make him understand that doing this is not good, or start threatening him with violence. Such actions will already be considered a criminal offense, and will only benefit the blackmailer, because he will already be the injured party.
Types of blackmail
Being a broad concept that reflects a person’s coercive behavior in relation to any sphere of life, blackmail can be divided into several types. The most commonly perceived blackmail is extortion, which involves the transfer of material property to another person under threat to the life, reputation or health of the person himself or his loved ones. This also includes the disclosure of unwanted information, publication of provocative photographs, intimate videos and correspondence.
Emotional blackmail is a type that is most often encountered at the everyday social level. This category, unlike extortion, is practically not reflected in the legislation, but is a big topic in the categories of psychology.
Blackmail on an emotional level is the most striking and severe form of manipulative behavior used by loved ones. So a person can threaten to change his attitude (stop loving, helping, talking) or social role (divorce, leave, commit suicide). It is best to stop such tendencies at the initial stage; sometimes this may require the help of a psychotherapist.
Despite the fact that emotional blackmail is not regulated in any way by law, it can lead to equally tragic consequences. This is how the victim experiences personality changes (depression, increased levels of anxiety, neuroses, panic attacks, pathopsychological conditions develop). If the situation is not stopped in time, then in addition to mental disorders of the victim, the blackmailer’s actions can worsen and ultimately lead to situations that imply criminal liability. Starting with verbal intimidation, blackmailers increase the degree of their influence by including physical violence and threats to the victim’s vitality. These actions are considered as physical blackmail.
Blackmail on someone else's behalf or anonymously is the most difficult from the point of view of stopping attacks, since it is not clear who the initiator is and how to influence him. This type is becoming increasingly popular with the spread of various social networks and other Internet resources, where you can hide your identity, but at the same time easily get to the victim’s data.
And the last type of blackmail is lifelong, happening to those who begin to give in and fulfill the demands of the blackmailer. The problem is that once a person gets what he wants, he will not stop, because information, data or knowledge, the ability to fulfill the promised threats are still in his hands.
On one's own
Once you find yourself in the sight of extortionists, under no circumstances start a scandal or be led by emotions. Stay cool and completely calm, trying to collect as much evidence as possible of the extortionist’s illegal actions.
If you were unable to politely but firmly get rid of the extortionist, pretend that you agree to his demands and start stalling for time.
Use witness testimony; in case of threats or persistent visits of extortionists to your home, try not to be alone.
Use audio-video recording, for example, using a voice recorder or a mobile phone camera to record the attacker’s demands or your conversation.
If this is extortion over the phone, for example in the form of a message that your relative is in trouble and you urgently need to send money, feign fear and, under any pretext, force the interlocutor to interrupt the conversation and call you back - this way you can prepare for the conversation.
Try to find those who have suffered from the same person and enlist their support and testimony - in case of extortion in school, hospital or at work.
When making audio and video recordings, try to structure the dialogue so that the extortionist “talks out” as much as possible - agree on the amount, method of transfer, small details. Once or twice you can reduce the dialogue to a conflict by refusing to pay - your interlocutor will probably announce the consequences of what will happen to you if you do not give money or directly threaten.
Having collected the evidence base, you can contact law enforcement agencies.
Blackmailer-extortionist.
Hello!
I think you won't be very happy with what you see next. The point is this: I connected to your network through your router. Next I found a hole in your computer's operating system and uploaded my code. Blame it on your love for hardcore porn. This code gave me absolute rights over your computer and peripherals. This means that I can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you don’t know about it. All your contacts and correspondence are also visible to me. In general, you are an open book for me, so to speak.
And for almost three months now I have been collecting all sorts of interesting things about you. To be honest, I didn't expect this from you. Then a thought came to me. In the editor, I combined two entries, namely: on the left it shows how you have fun with yourself in different ways, and on the right there is the perverted content that you were viewing. Just a couple of mouse clicks and this miracle will be sent to all emails, friends and acquaintances on social networks.
If you want to prevent this, then you need to transfer 650 USD to my account. I'm sure you've heard about bitcoins, so you're converting to them. But if you don’t know how to top up such a wallet, use any search engine like Google or Yandex. There's nothing complicated about it. Make the transfer to this wallet: bc1q4xle3evl8mxzztpx0phhup7fens3xq8rtupqtg
After receiving payment, I will delete everything and you will never hear from me again. You have two days to do everything. The process started after you opened this message. Counter ID - 7942774 There is no point in writing a response - the sender's address consists of arbitrary data. I don't recommend going anywhere. If I see that you shared our little secret with someone, in this case, as I wrote above, all your contacts will receive a copy of the recording with you.
The other day I received this letter in the mail. This letter was in the Spam folder. The thought immediately occurred to me, why this letter ended up in the Spam folder. It's simple, the criminal used an email client to send mass emails, so the standard Yandex protection worked, which considered the letter to be spam.
Next, you can type the second line from this letter into a search engine and see a dozen information resources that discuss letters of this kind. So, calmly, without any unnecessary movements, you can understand that this is just a simple “ scam ”. All professional extortion scammers are excellent psychologists in life, and it is clear what they are counting on - panic and absolute computer illiteracy of users. Plus, based on the number of letters they sent, maybe someone will take the bait, and the most interesting thing is that, most likely, someone will take the bait.
So, dear citizens, be vigilant and do not fall for such provocations!
Where and how to contact?
1. If there are threats during extortion to your health or life, your loved ones, or officials extort a bribe from you, then, definitely, you should go exclusively to law enforcement agencies.
A) If you become a victim of extortion, contact the police department with a statement at the place where the crime was committed.
B) Contact the prosecutor's office if government officials interfere with your efforts to protect your rights and refuse to accept your application.
2/ If law enforcement officers act as extortionists, and you are afraid of mutual responsibility in the police department at your place of residence (especially in the provinces), contact the personal security service of the Department of Internal Affairs of the city or region or the regional department of the FSB.
3. In case of extortion of money under circumstances of an obvious “frame-up” - for example, an accident or alleged damage to someone else’s property - immediately call the police, without agreeing to any alternatives. The mere intention to call the police will be enough to cool the ardor of extortionists.
Example: Citizen A., driving his car through an intersection, felt a slight blow to the right and stopped. Two men approached him and showed him a broken expensive phone; allegedly the driver did not notice the pedestrian crossing, hit him and the man dropped his phone on the asphalt. Refusing to “resolve the issue on the spot,” A. pointed to the surveillance camera at a nearby store and began calling the police to sort out the situation. The extortionists immediately left the scene.
What it is
Blackmail is the desire to take possession of other people's goods in a formally legal way, when a person seems to voluntarily give what is required, but is emotionally forced to do so. It is in the context of this moment that the actions of the blackmailer are equated to a crime. Typically, blackmailers' demands are excessively high relative to the usual standards of payment and gratitude - such a high price is achieved by putting pressure on the most significant and vulnerable areas of the victim.
In the legislative framework, blackmail is not considered as a category of crime, but exclusively as a means of committing it. At the same time, the list of crimes committed with the help of blackmail is quite wide. This may include extortion of material components, coercion to certain intimate (direct sexual intercourse, photographs and videos of an erotic nature), political (voting for a specified candidate, promoting a necessary law) or social behavior (choosing communication, visiting places and activities instead of a person).
Blackmail is always based on ultimatums and manipulations, and has varying degrees of manifestation and severity of consequences. Considering this phenomenon to be exclusively a problem of rich people with an unclean reputation, many are mistaken, periodically also being victims of blackmailers.
There are more than enough examples of blackmail in everyday and family situations. This includes threats from lovers to commit suicide if they are abandoned; this can also include threats against a new passion or the beloved himself, as in many stories of literature and life. Parents blackmail their children with their health, clutching at their hearts every time they disobey or choose behavior options that do not suit their elders.
Children blackmail their parents by leaving home, going on hunger strikes and committing criminal acts if they do not provide adequate financial support or control too much. Men tend to resort to financial blackmail in order to control the behavior of their wives, who depend on him in matters of money, while wives can also play similar games, only on the other side, refusing sex if their whims regarding purchases are not fulfilled.
Such everyday examples rarely come to the attention of law enforcement agencies and in many families are considered something normal and even a method of education. Options when this crosses the line and a real threat to life is felt can provoke the victim to seek help if she has not been in a destructive relationship for a long enough time and is able to assess reality adequately.
With any type of threat, it is worth understanding that the aggressor is counting on the maximum emotional reaction of the victim, that is, fear. Those cases when the person being blackmailed against the backdrop of passion begins to blackmail in response can reach an extreme level of conflict, when both parties keep their promises, while there is no true desire to cause harm. So, in response to threats about the end of life, a person can promise to kill himself in the same way and, driving each other, inflating emotional tension, a fatal outcome can occur for both participants, despite the fact that the first wanted a romantic happy relationship, and the second freedom. When starting such a game, not a single blackmailer wants to carry out his threats, but only to receive the announced benefit, and only the impulsive behavior of the intended victim can provoke him to carry out what was said.
What to do if you become a victim of extortion?
Legal psychology and criminology distinguish two groups of victims of extortion:
- persons with positive behavior;
- persons with negative (passive or active) behavior.
Individuals with positive behavior have the following traits:
- as a rule, they have a large fortune as property (can be expressed both in monetary terms and in the form of real estate, valuables), which attracts extortionists;
- have such psychological traits as foresight, determination, courage;
- are law-abiding, have knowledge of how to protect themselves in the legal field;
- do not ignore the extortionist’s threats, but do not indulge them either;
- cooperate with law enforcement agencies and take initiative in investigating extortion.
Let's give an example.
Citizen Samuilov received a bonus at work, which became known to his friend, Gavrilenkov. He threatened Samuylov with reprisals if he did not share the prize, promising to watch him in the evening and beat him. Taking advantage of the fact that he had time, Samuylov turned to the police.
The negative-passive behavior of a ransomware victim manifests itself as follows:
- concealing the fact of threats and demands of a property nature from law enforcement agencies;
- expression of no confidence in the police;
- fulfillment of the extortionists' demands, in whole or in part.
Thus, Semchenko obtained money illegally, which Borkovskaya became aware of. She demanded part of the amount from him in exchange for her silence. Semchenko, of course, did not contact law enforcement agencies, fearing responsibility for his own actions, so he complied with Borkovskaya’s demand.
Another example:
In turn, Nazarova, who has a legal income and became a victim of extortion, did not contact law enforcement agencies for another reason: she did not believe that the police would be able to prove the guilt of the criminal, she preferred to give the money, which prompted the extortionist to put forward more and more demands.
Reference. Negative-active behavior, in turn, is distinguished by the involuntary incitement of the victim to take action on the part of the extortionist: they clearly demonstrate the presence of expensive property, do not hide from the potential extortionist information about themselves and loved ones that should not be disseminated, etc.
Linova also illegally received a sum of money, making it look like she had won the lottery, which she hastened to tell her friends about. Her friend, Serova, immediately demanded to share, because she learned about the illegality of the profit. Linova complied with the request, fearing exposure. She did not contact law enforcement agencies.
Recommended reading:
Concept and composition of extortion
Types and methods of committing extortion
Qualifying signs of extortion
How to protect yourself from emotional blackmail?
We must remember that everyone has their own story about their relationship with a blackmailer. It is important to find a good specialist who will draw up an individual psychological assistance program for each patient.
There are several ways to free yourself from the influence of others, but they will only help if the person is determined to end such relationships.
"Inaction"
There is no need to respond to the aggressor’s requests and threats with a sharp refusal or agreement; it is better to ask him to let him consider the demands. This technique will help buy a little time and briefly push the aggressor out of a dominant position.
"Make an ally out of an enemy"
You can try to understand the other person's motives, talk to him about why it is so important for him to get what he wants. If he is capable of dialogue, then you can come to a joint solution to the problem and avoid repetition of blackmail.
