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Friday, dec 20
Tag:
Online Safety
News
Man Nabbed In Undercover Online Predator Sting In Hudson Valley, DA Says
A man is facing multiple charges after an online predator sting in the region. From Tuesday, April 30, through Sunday, Sept. 1 of this year, Robert Fidler age 66, of Nyack engaged in internet chats and attempted to arrange meetings with what he thought were two teenage girls, the Rockland County District Attorney's Office said. An undercover officer of the DA Office's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force had assumed the personas of 13- and 14-year-old girls. During the conversations, Fidler described how he and the undercover officer would engage in sexual contact whe…
News
Warning Issued For Nationwide Automated 'Sextortion' Scam: Here's What To Know
Authorities are warning the public of a nationwide automated scam in which scammers use people’s email addresses to coerce payments by intimidating them with threats of embarrassment. Victims of the "sextortion" scheme, usually children and teens, are manipulated to photograph or video material for extortionists. "After receiving the sexually explicit content from the child, the offender threatens to release that compromising material unless the victim produces additional explicit material," said the FBI in issuing the warning to parents, educators, caregivers, and children. In a sepa…
News
Child Porn Possession: Former Sports Hall Of Famer From Northern Westchester Gets Prison Time
A retired teacher and former sports announcer who was once inducted into the Westchester Sports Hall of Fame has been sentenced for receiving child pornography. Somers resident Richard Leaf, age 76, who is well-known in Westchester for announcing Section 1 boys and girls basketball tournaments for more than three decades, was sentenced on Tuesday, July 2 to a decade in prison for receiving child pornography, according to federal US District Court documents. Earlier Report - Child Porn Possession: Sports Hall Of Famer From Hudson Valley Pleads Guilty According to federal pr…
News
Westchester Man Sexually Assaults Boy Outside His Home: Here's His Sentence
A 35-year-old man from New York will spend decades in prison for enticing a teenage boy to engage in sexual activity with him at his Connecticut home, officials announced. Westchester County resident Leland Robinson, of Mount Vernon, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for enticing a 14-year-old boy to engage in sexual activity with him, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Friday, March 8. According to federal officials, in February 2019, when Robinson was 31 years old, he posed as a high school student on a social media application a…
News
'Please Call The Police': Westchester Woman Held Hostage Uses Grubhub To Get Help
A New York woman being held hostage and sexually assaulted was finally rescued after using a food delivery app to call for help. Westchester County restaurant The Chipper Truck Cafe, located in Yonkers, said it received the desperate plea for help Sunday, June 19, via a customer order on Grubhub. Written in the app’s “additional instructions” box was the message: “please call the police his going to call me when u delivered come with the cones please don’t make it obvious.” In a Facebook post, the restaurant’s owner said staff immediately called 911 and reported the message to police. …
News
Don't Let Them Break Your Heart: FBI Issues Alert For Romance Scams
While Valentine's Day is a time for romantic gestures, the FBI has issued an alert to the public about romance scams. The agency said in an alert on Monday, Feb. 14, that the scams take place when a criminal adopts a fake identity online to get the victim's trust and uses the close relationship to manipulate and/or steal from the victim. "The criminals who carry out romance scams are experts at what they do and will seem genuine, caring, and believable," the FBI said. "Con artists are present on most dating and social media sites." The FBI said eventually the scammer will ask the vic…
Police & Fire
Man Arranged To Have Sex With 13-Year-Old From Region, Police Say
A man has been apprehended after arriving in Connecticut believing he was going to be having sex with a child, police announced. Detectives in Fairfield County from the Greenwich Police Department’s Special Victims Section had been engaged for several weeks in an internet undercover sexual predator investigation. The suspect believed one of the detectives was a 13-year old girl and began extensive conversations which included him sending explicit text messages indicating specific sex acts he wanted to engage with what he believed was a juvenile child, said police.&n…
News
Covid-
19: Alert Issued For Child Tax Credit Payment Scams
Opportunistic fraudsters have taken advantage of some consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic, this time targeting child tax credit payments that have been sent out to assist families. The IRS recently issued an alert after it began sending tens of millions of dollars to families, though scammers have been attempting to pull a fast one over on some to steal thousands of dollars in federal benefits. According to the IRS, scammers have been reaching out to families using emails, text messages, and through social media, asking to verify personal information to receive the child tax credit payme…
Police & Fire
Man Charged With Kidnapping After Missing NY 15-Year-Old Found In Virginia
A man is facing kidnapping charges after allegedly taking a 15-year-old Long Island boy he met online out of state. Suffolk County Police Fifth Squad detectives are investigating the circumstances during which the missing special needs boy was found in Virginia early on Wednesday, June 30. The boy was reported missing by his family on Tuesday, June 29 at approximately 1:30 p.m., after he was last seen leaving his home at 11:30 a.m., police said. Following an investigation, detectives determined the boy had been communicating with a 20-year-old man residing in Tennessee through an ins…
News
Hudson Valley Man Accused Of Sexually Exploiting Three 13-Year-Olds Online
A 29-year-old Hudson Valley man was arrested for the sexual exploitation of three young teens online following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigative Division. Orange County resident Jonathan Weiss, also known as "Ian_Jameson," of Middletown, has been charged with communicating with three different underage victims online and directing them to take sexually explicit images and send them to Weiss. "Jonathan Weiss's alleged crimes are abhorrent and predatory," ," said Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "Using a common socia…
Police & Fire
Teen Charged With Breach Of Peace Following Online 'Chatter' Directed At New Canaan HS
This story has been updated. A 17-year-old juvenile has been charged with breach of peace for allegedly posting worrisome "chatter" online that was directed at New Canaan High School. The New Canaan teen was issued a juvenile summons following an investigation by New Canaan Police, said Lt. Jason Ferraro. The department had an increased presence at the school on Friday, Jan. 17, after several students voiced concerns after seeing the online posts. School officials contacted police after they were contacted by the students. No specific threat was made, school officials said. But out of an…
Politics
New Requirements For Sex Offenders Using Social Apps Proposed In NY
A new proposal from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo would regulate registered sex offenders from using social media applications and other online methods to contact and exploit children. In his 11th proposal of the 2020 State of the State agenda, Cuomo introduced legislation to prevent convicted sex offenders from using social media accounts, dating apps, and video game chat functions to target minors. The proposal is an extension of New York's e-STOP law, which passed in 2008 and requires sex offenders to register some online activities with state officials. According to Cuomo, “wit…
News
Four Men Accused Of Arranging To Meet Up With 13-Year-Old Boy For Sex In Hudson Valley
Four men were arrested after allegedly arranging to meet up with a 13-year-old boy to have sex through an online website. The arrests were the result of an investigation in Orange County that began when Port Jervis officers stopped to investigate a suspicious vehicle parked in the parking lot of a closed business after hours on Sept. 4, said Port Jervis Chief William Worden. During the stop, officers found Kerry Sauer, 56, of Port Jervis, with a 13-year-old male victim whom he met online using Grindr, Worden said. Grindr is an online dating application geared towa…
Police & Fire
Don't Fall For It: Police Issue Alert For Unclaimed Funds Email Scam
Police in the area are cautioning local residents of a recent email scam that has been making the rounds throughout the region. One police department, located in Rockland County, reports it just received a scam email from “Rupnarain Kamal” stating that the recipient of the email was due a payment of $22,583,112.00 as a beneficiary for an unclaimed fund at a South African bank. “Back in January, we posted about a scam email we received in the (police department’s) General Email Account Mailbox,” the Ramapo Police Department posted online. “Well, on (Monday), July 22, we received the same ema…
Police & Fire
Disturbing 'Suicide Challenge' App Aimed At Teens Sparks New Warning
An ongoing suicide “game” involving a person dubbed “Momo" targeting teens on a prominent messaging app is sparking a new warning. “Momo” has become a viral challenge that first asks people to add a contact on the WhatsApp app, and they are then encouraged to commit self-harm or suicide. The “game” has spread nationwide. The challenge has since evolved to include other apps and social media platforms. According to Fox News, police in Mexico say that “Momo” started in a Facebook group, where people are encouraged to make contact with an unknown telephone number. “Computer Crime Investigator…
Lifestyle
Kids Spend More Time On YouTube Than With Friends, New Study Says
A new study has revealed some shocking stats about the way today’s children are spending the bulk of their time. The study, which was carried out by media watchdog Ofcom, discovered that children under the age of five spend an hour and 16 minutes online per day, on average. Factor in gaming and television and that time shoots up to four hours and 16 minutes. But that’s not all: one-fifth of children ages eight through 12 are on social media, despite the “ban” for those under age 13. The results of the Ofcom annual report are based on 2,000 interviews. Many parents admitted that they had “l…
News
Missing 16-Year-Old Believed To Be In New York Area
A 16-year-old out-of-state girl has gone missing and her family says they believe she's in the New York City area. Brooklynn Hays from Essex, Maryland ran away from home after a camping trip after she thought she was in trouble with her parents on Sunday, Sept. 30, according to WMAR-TV. Her parents told the station they suspect she contacted someone she met online and that police believe she was seen somewhere in New York City. “We believe she’s in danger," her cousin Korinne Gurnsey told WMAR. "We’ve been in contact with a lot of her friends and we don’t know where she is.” Sh…
Lifestyle
Twitter Says It Will Delete Millions Of Accounts
Twitter users may soon see a lot fewer followers, as the company prepares to purge the system from locked accounts that have been disabled due to suspicious activity. Officials said that locked accounts occur when they see sudden changes in behavior. They then reach out to the owners of the accounts and unless they validate the account and reset their passwords, they stay locked with no ability to log in. “We are committed to building trust and encouraging healthy conversations on Twitter,” the company posted. “Follower counts should be meaningful and accurate. We are removing locked accoun…
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