In case you’ve been living under a rock, 2020 is probably the most turbulent year in living memory in large part because of all of the COVID-19 craziness. As a result, just about everybody worldwide has been on lockdown for weeks or even months on end, depending on their country.
Further, thanks to the virus, a lot of people have been laid off, furloughed, or required to work from home. With all of this free time, frustration, and boredom, people have found ways to cope.
Some people have smoked more reefer than usual, others have been whittling down home improvement projects, and others have been watching smut. PornHub and other porn publishers have reported a significant jump in traffic throughout this year.
Hilariously, religious fundamentalists like Josh McDowell and Todd Wagner have been freaking out that people are pulling it to porn rather than do something “stimulating” like go pray in church.
Anyway, the real downside to this is that scammers have been looking to prey on poor wankers. Some of these tactics are old but have been upgraded with a fresh spin, and others are a bit new, relatively speaking.
To keep you all alert for stuff to look out for and ways to proactively protect yourself, I’ll go over some of the major porn scams out on the net.
The big scams and what to look out for
Age-based coercion
This is a scam that is tried and true but seems to be more common nowadays. A rando on the internet will contact a victim and try to lure them into an ongoing intimate conversation. The objective is to pump the target for as much personal information as possible, turn the conversation sexual, and try to score racy pictures of the victim.
To engender as much trust as possible, they may even send stolen photos of someone else, too. However, no matter how mature the person’s pictures are, they’ll later claim that they are underage. Then they’ll threaten to go to the police for sexually propositioning them unless you pay them a ton of money.
As a rule, never send money to anyone random person via the net. Even if you do know them, I suggest you transfer money through trusted channels (PayPal, bank wires) and to people with names, accounts, and emails you recognize.
When it comes to chatting with people, I will stick to websites that have some form of age authentication requirements. By doing this, you won’t have to worry about accidentally chatting up an actual minor.
If you do end up getting blackmailed, do not engage the bullshitter. Block and report them to the site you are using, and if you’re still getting harassed, get in touch with local law enforcement immediately.
This is a recent scam that has been rocking the internet recently. The scammer’s objective is to get money from their target through social media platforms like Snapchat.
Once the victim has added the scammer’s SC profile, the scammer will say that they need a payment sent to their Venmo account to provide premium access. Of course, once the scammer gets the money, they’ll ignore or block the victim and move onto someone else.
If you are on Snapchat or any other social media page, there are already third-party services that allow for safe media transfers for money. So, if someone is asking you to pay them directly, they are almost certainly trying to take advantage of you.
Furthermore, never send personal information of any sort, even your email address, to anyone you don’t know or have just met. I know that may sound obvious, but the reason why these scams keep going is that some rubes still haven’t learned that lesson,
Viral extortion and wanna cry
This tactic has been around for almost a decade but has become increasingly common in recent years. Hackers will message a target, typically via email, with some cryptic or dire warning. A spin-off of this is to phish for a response by saying that they’ve been recording all of the adult websites which you’ve visited.
You should ignore and delete these messages. However, not everyone does and will open up these emails looking to investigate the claim or bargain with the sender. When they do, then their machine will be hacked into often with a variant of the WannaCry virus.
After the victim’s device is infected, the hacker will demand money to be sent to them, usually to an untraceable cryptocurrency address. Even if the victim pays, the hacker may leave their device infected, which could indefinitely lock them out of their machine.
The best way to avoid falling for this is not to respond to any email address you do not recognize. Fortunately, most email service providers have algorithms in place to recognize shifty-looking emails.
Further, if you see a random pop-up that says that your computer is infected and you need to download some software right away, that should be a dead ringer that it’s a scam.
Webcam sexploitation
If you haven’t heard, it’s not only possible for hackers to be able to gain access to your phone’s speaker and receiver while it’s off, but your webcam also. Some hackers do this voyeuristically watch an object of their desire. Others will record people, especially during moments of impropriety, and use it as leverage to coerce money out of them.
Besides downloading protective software, an easy way to keep yourself from this particularly heinous form of exploitation, just coverup up your webcam with a piece of plastic or some tape.
General tips to protect yourself
Update all of your passwords
One of the easiest ways to protect your data and shield yourself from hackers is to upgrade all of your passcodes. Instead of using simple passwords – for instance, password321 – using a combination of letters, numbers, and other characters means that it’ll be significantly harder for hackers to break into your accounts.
Fortunately, most websites require new members to have a strong password and will even automatically suggest novel ones. Even if they don’t, most modern operating systems and updated browsers will auto-generate and save secure passcodes for you.
In addition to that, encrypting data as much as possible will help keep you safe while you surf the web. Some free services built around encryption include the email service Protonmail, cloud protector programs like CertainSafe, and file protection software like Advanced Encryption Package.
Furthermore, even without downloading something new, modern Macs, Windows, iPhones, and Androids are programmed with basic data encryption tools.
Get some protective software
For some reason, if you haven’t or are (somehow) new to the internet, you need to step up your preferred device’s anti-viral software. In addition to your machine’s firewall, you should get some additional anti-malware programs, too.
While you can pay for some of these – however, there are plenty of quality programs that you can download for free. Some of my recommendations include the free version of AVG, Norton 360, and Avira.
Norton 360 is particularly useful for porn users who aren’t as sharp at spotting hackers since that program has specialty anti-ransomware features.
Get ad-blocking programs
Another way to protect yourself from malware and improve your surfing experience is to get some adblocking software. Unfortunately, even the better tube sites have a problem with pop-ups and other spammy bullshit. Luckily, there are several cheap or free software suites that are compatible with all major browsers and mobile devices.
Secure the means you get net access
Lastly, I’d get a virtual private network service as well. Not only do VPNs keep your information safe from hackers, corporations, and intrusive governments, but it’s unlikely that you will be tracked around the internet.
To get some software recommendations to look into, I’ve got a post about various software to look into on my main site. In addition to that post, you mobile users should look up my blog on the best and safe porn apps for handheld devices.
ThePornDude’s final words
With these warnings and tips laid out, I think you should be able to surf the net for smut with greater peace of mind. If you are looking for free porn, I’ve got many recommendations which you can see here.
Anyway, I’ve got even more scintillating blog posts coming on far more uplifting, or perhaps I say arousing, content. So, keep checking this page throughout the week – I promise you’ll love what I post next.
