The University of Delaware has alerted its community to a serious incident involving social media extortion, identified as a Jeanne Clery Act stalking case. The extortion occurred on the evening of July 15, 2024. This notification is part of a broader trend affecting colleges and universities across the United States, where there has been a noticeable increase in extortion cases stemming from social media interactions according to the alert.
These incidents typically involve the victim sharing compromising photographs of themselves with someone they met online, only to be subsequently blackmailed for monetary payment to prevent the release of these images. In light of this, the University of Delaware Police Department (UDPD) is urging all community members to exercise extreme caution and avoid sending sensitive information or images unless they have thoroughly verified the identity of the person they are communicating with.