Beyond the Headlines: Unmasking the Rising Threat of Celebrity Sextortion

“Stars – They’re just like us.” And, apparently, they’re targeted in sextortion schemes in the same ways, too. Despite their fame and fortune, or maybe because of it, celebrities are vulnerable to the same cybercriminals that attack everyday people. 

With an increase in online activity and access to public figures combined with the development of advanced strategies employed by scammers, it should come as no surprise that there has been an uptick in sextortion attempts with high-profile targets. 

In a sense, knowing the famous figures we often see as untouchable aren’t immune to these attacks can show other victims that this truly can happen to anyone. By examining celebrity sextortion cases, we can identify the causes that lead to these crimes and deduce how all of us can improve our online security. 

How Sextortion Targets Celebrities: Methods and Tactics 

There are many ways in which a cybercriminal can come into possession of material used to sextort celebrities, including: 

• Hacking and Stealing: There are instances of hacking devices or stealing them altogether. This was the case for Kanye West, who was sextorted by a family member who stole a laptop containing sexual content of the figure. This was famously referenced in The Life of Pablo track “Real Friends”⁽¹⁾. 
• Phishing: Other cases are initiated by social engineering and phishing tactics. This was initially believed with “high confidence” to be the root cause of the exposure of Jeff Bezos’s extramarital affair in the National Enquirer and further blackmail following an alleged phishing attack that compromised his phone and private photos⁽²⁾. 
• AI Deepfakes: With the advent of AI technology, deepfake media is used in countless ways, including scamming celebrities. AI allows sextortionists to attack victims without the need to obtain their intimate images. Numerous celebrities have had their likenesses stolen and repurposed by cybercriminals to create augmented adult content⁽³⁾. 
• Fake Escorts: There has been a recent uptick in celebrities and high-profile figures who have been extorted through escort or “sugar baby” encounters that then blackmail the target with threats to go public if they are not paid. Often, they increase the incentive by claiming to be underage after the meeting⁽⁴⁾. 
• Catfishing: Even celebrities are looking for love, and sometimes they can be vulnerable to the same pitfalls of online dating as the rest of us. Just look at Manti Te’o. Although he wasn’t sextorted, he became almost synonymous with the term “catfish” after falling into a fictitious online relationship⁽⁵⁾.  

Regardless of how these crimes are carried out, they have an astronomical effect on the victims. Sextortion holds the power to make its victims feel ashamed and alone, even when they have millions of fans and supporters. 

The Legal and Emotional Fallout: Consequences for Victims 

Sextortion is illegal, whether it occurs in a region that has specific legislation addressing it or it falls under the umbrella of extortion and cyber blackmail laws. However, there can be some difficulties prosecuting cases of sextortion impacting high-profile figures. 

For instance, there has been a lot of recent discourse over the legality of deepfake pornography. Multiple states have addressed the medium and a bill has been introduced at the federal level, but a lack of definitive legislature has largely left charging the crime a case-by-case interpretation. 

If the intimate images of the celebrity do end up going public, they often spread like wildfire with millions of users downloading and resharing the content. This can make it difficult to determine the origin of the leak and present the need to legally pursue an entire population’s worth of cases, which is not a feasible feat. 

Furthermore, celebrities are forced to weigh the benefits of taking legal action with the downside of potentially bringing increased attention to the situation. This is often called the ‘Streisand Effect’ in reference to Barbra Streisand suing a photographer for capturing her home, leading to over 400,000 views and multiple publications of the photo in the following month⁽⁶⁾. 

Protecting Privacy: Security Measures for Celebrities 

Because of the unique challenges faced by celebrities when trying to legally combat a sextortionist, it’s critical to get out ahead of these threats before they present themselves. Some of the ways that superstars can safeguard their sensitive data are as follows: 

• Secure All Online Accounts: All internet users should use strong and unique passwords for each online account and regularly update them. You should also use 2FA whenever it’s available to protect your profiles past your passwords. Check your session history for any unauthorized activity and log out any suspicious sessions. 
• Avoid Oversharing: Although much of a modern-day celebrity’s personal brand revolves around their social media presence, it’s important to avoid volunteering sensitive information that can be used to hack accounts or create convincing social engineering attacks that can even fool the famous. 
• Consider Cyber Security Staff: In addition to personal assistants, trainers, chefs, and beauticians, celebrities should make room for cyber security professionals on their payroll. Their status and the corresponding commodity that is their private data make celebrities a high-profile target for cybercrimes like sextortion. 
• Report Immediately: As the A&E series ‘The First 48’ explains, the biggest factor in successfully resolving any crime is time. This includes cybercrimes targeting celebrities, too. Celebrities should immediately report sextortion to the platform it occurred on and law enforcement. 

The Role of Social Media Platforms and Law Enforcement 

In addition to the protective procedures that celebrities can take to secure their social media accounts, there are also steps that need to be taken by these platforms to provide a safe experience. Further implementation of tools like Take It Down and harsher enforcement of community guidelines can help decrease sextortion on social media. 

Building upon this, there needs to be a stronger global push to explicitly outline the illegality of sextortion to ensure that these criminals face justice. The blurred lines of inconsistency that plague the current legislation around sextortion result in varying interpretation and criminals receiving unfit penalties or none at all. 

Case Studies: Analyzing High-Profile Sextortion Incidents 

We previously mentioned Jeff Bezos having details of his extramarital affair revealed by the National Enquirer after being obtained in what Bezos connected to a state-sanctioned phishing attack, but the story doesn’t end there. 

Bezos later went on record to say that the National Enquirer had blackmailed him with the notion that they’d publish additional intimate photos they had obtained unless he walked back on claims that their initial article was politically motivated⁽⁷⁾. 

However, it was later revealed that the photos had actually been obtained by the woman’s brother who later sold them to the tabloid for roughly $200,000⁽⁸⁾. While not a retaliatory malware attack set forward by the Saudi Arabian government, it does serve as a reminder to be very selective who you share intimate photos with. 

In separate instance of celebrity sextortion, comedian Kevin Hart was caught up in an extortion attempt after a man had obtained a video capturing his own adulterous activities. Rather than meet the demands, Hart decided to come forward publicly with the story while legally combatting the sextortionist. 

An arrest and charges were initially brought against Hart’s former friend J.T Jackson, but they were later dismissed and an out of court agreement was made⁽⁹⁾. Although Bezos and Hart took different routes, both opted not to give in to the demands of the parties possessing their private photos. 

That should be the biggest takeaway from anyone looking at these cases; you should never pay a sextortionist. Both of these men had more than enough money, or free will to walk back claims in Bezos’s case, to meet the demands of their attackers.  

However, both opted to combat their scammers, although they may have been able to do so while avoiding the ‘Streisand effect’ if they sought the assistance of a digital forensics organization. 

The Future of Celebrity Security in the Digital Age 

The advancement of AI technology, as well as the massive amount of personal information readily available online, could potentially lead to weak passwords being cracked with a simple input request. Additionally, deepfakes of celebrities are growing more common and convincing by the second. 

As we continue to transition further and further into a digital existence, it becomes increasingly important for all of us to take our online security seriously. With greater financial resources and a much more public reputation to uphold, it would be in the best interest of celebrities to consider hiring cyber security professionals. 

Those professionals can be found right here at DFC. Our experts have helped clients ranging from everyday people to popular public figures and even entire corporate entities. Reach out any time of day to speak with one of our specialists at our Sextortion Helpline and see how we can be of service to you. 

Sources: 

1.  Kanye West’s Real Friends lyrics: Sex tape laptop blackmail really happened, says cousin | The Independent | The Independent 
2. Jeff Bezos hack: Amazon boss’s phone ‘hacked by Saudi crown prince’ | Jeff Bezos | The Guardian 
3. Meta failing to curb spread of many sexualized AI deepfake celebrity images on Facebook – CBS News 
4. ‘Sextortion’ Cases against CEOs, Celebs On the Rise 
5. Inside latest ‘Backstory’ – Manti Te’o and the lingering catfish questions – ESPN 
6. Streisand effect | Definition, Meaning, Examples, & Origin | Britannica 
7. Jeff Bezos Says ‘National Enquirer’ Tried To Blackmail Him Over Personal Photos : NPR 
8. How Jeff Bezos Beat the National Enquirer: Amazon Unbound Book Excerpt – Bloomberg 
9. Kevin Hart’s former friend cleared of extortion from sex scandal 

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