Italy sees rise in digital extortion and social media hacking

Two individuals are facing charges of fraud and extortion in Italy following a digital blackmail scheme. Prosecutors allege that a 62-year-old man and a 48-year-old resident of Naples used a fake profile to contact a 55-year-old man. After moving the conversation to Telegram and obtaining explicit photos, the suspects allegedly claimed financial hardship to solicit money and subsequently threatened to release the images unless further payments were made.

In a separate incident of digital extortion, journalist Umberto Chiariello reported being hacked. Chiariello stated that a Turkish student stole his social media profiles and demanded decreasing amounts of money, ranging from 400 to 200 euros, to restore access. He noted the difficulty of resolving such issues with platforms like Meta and expressed frustration over the loss of his digital identity and professional work.