Saturday, Oct 22, 2016

Muscat: An awareness campaign on the dangers of cyber extortion has led to a sharp increase in women reporting such incidents, according to the Information Technology Authority (ITA) in Oman.

A total of 163 cyber blackmailing cases were registered between October 4 and October 18, marking a nearly 100 per cent increase from the number of such cases registered in the first nine months of this year.

There have been 324 blackmailing cases reported this year. Only two cases were reported in 2011, two in 2012, five in 2013, 17 in 2014 and 84 in 2015.

Observers believe that increased awareness has led to the steady increase in reporting such cases and the awareness campaign launched by the government agency on October 4 has encouraged women to come forward even more.

Under the slogan, “Report and your secret will be kept in a well”, the campaign has helped educate people about the dangers of cyber blackmail.

Social stigma and embarrassment have hindered women from reporting such crimes and the actual number of victims is predicted to be much higher, Bader Al Salhi, the head of the National Centre of Information Technology, said.

A 23-year-old woman who did not want her name revealed told Gulf News on Thursday that she was blackmailed by her ex-boyfriend when he threatened to circulate her personal photos on social media platforms.

“When I made the decision to break off my relationship with him because he was delaying our marriage, he decided to take revenge,” she said.

She decided to report him to the ITA and he has been detained pending further investigation.

“I call upon every female not to share any personal photos to any guy. Otherwise, she has to bear the brunt,” she said.

Article 16 of Oman’s cyber law stipulates that anyone who publishes news or pictures of someone’s private life can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to 2,000 riyals.

How to report

Victims of cyber extortion in Oman can report the crimes to the ITA by calling 24166828 or by emailing to ocert999@ita.gov.om

By Fahad Al Mukrashi Correspondent

Gulf News 2016. All rights reserved.