Watch: Syndicate uses honey trap to extort a company

Real life crime is often as complex, twisted and criminally inspired as we see in films, and few are as inventive, and sadly as common, as sextortion or honey trapping for money.

Forensic investigator Chad Thomas at IRS Forensic Investigations must often delve deep into the shadowy world of these kind of crimes.

Honey traps

The concept of the honey trap, Thomas explained, has its roots in espionage, particularly during the tense years during the Cold War.

“Honey trapping dates back to just after the World War 2, where spies would use women to trap or ensnare somebody that had information for them,” Thomas said.

This age-old tactic, exploiting personal vulnerabilities for leverage or extortion, has been adapted for the digital age, giving rise to what is now known as “sextortion”. This modern incarnation leverages a mix between real life and digital communication platforms to exploit victims, significantly expanding the reach and anonymity of perpetrators.

Thomas shared an example of a recent and perplexing case.

“A syndicate meticulously orchestrated the employment of an attractive young woman at a successful company, with the aim of initiating a romantic relationship with one of its unmarried partners,” said Thomas.

The relationship was deliberately made public within the company through overt displays of affection, laying the groundwork for the subsequent phases of the extortion scheme. “This young lady, obviously very, very attractive, went to work for a very successful company, and one of the owners fell for her,” Thomas recounted.

Watch: Forensic investigator Chad Thomas tells the honeytrap story

It wasn’t long before the woman started accusing the businessman of sexual harassment. And consequently, he was removed from the business by his partner. There was a zero-tolerance policy in place at the company.

However, this did not deter the woman’s nearest and dearest. The plot thickened when the business owner was confronted by the family at a restaurant meeting, with accusations of condoning sexual harassment and assault within the business. It was a move aimed at exploiting the company’s zero-tolerance policy toward such misconduct.

“This accusation was based on the false premise that the woman had been coerced into the relationship due to the power dynamics at play by the one business partner as her superior, thereby compelling the other business partner to take disciplinary action against his partner and the woman involved,” said Thomas.

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However, the resolution of this situation was only the beginning of a far more complex extortion attempt. The company soon received a summons alleging a toxic environment that enabled sexual misconduct, directly stemming from the supposed relationship.

“The remining partner gets hit with a summons and it basically states that he had allowed for this environment to fester,” Thomas said. The depths of the deceit seemed bottomless.

Then, the story took an even more sinister turn with the involvement of individuals claiming to be law enforcement officers and journalists, who began exerting additional pressure on the company. Thomas described how a man phoning, claiming to be a policeman, stated that the company and its directors were under investigation for rape.

This was closely followed by media inquiries, allegedly from a journalist involved in the scam hinting at an exposé on the company’s alleged negligence regarding gender-based violence. “Suddenly a media query arrives, it suggested that the journalist was going to expose the company for doing nothing to prevent severe sexual harassment or gender-based violence from happening,” he said.

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Thomas’s investigation unearthed a web of connections linking the supposed police officer, the journalist, and the woman at the centre of the scheme, suggesting a co-ordinated effort to intimidate the company into settling. “Now, in my world, there’s no such thing as coincidence,” Thomas said. “It was elaborate, and almost effective in this case.”

As the investigation progressed, it became apparent that the legal professionals involved had been unwittingly drawn into the extortion scheme, unaware of the overarching manipulations. The revelation that the so-called police officer was, in fact, the woman’s new employer added another layer of complexity, suggesting he might also be a victim of a similar honey trap.

“This case highlights the multifaceted and audaciously devious plans employed in modern sextortion and honey trap schemes,” he said. “The importance of due diligence, skepticism, and the protection of personal and organisational integrity in the face of potential exploitation cannot be underestimated,” Thomas noted.