Black Mirror: 10 Times It Creepily Predicted The Future
3. Webcam Hacking And Blackmail
The Episode: Shut Up And Dance follows a teenage boy who unwittingly has his webcam hacked by some sophisticated malware. His hackers then film him masturbating and threaten to release the footage to all his contacts if he refuses to play along with their increasingly criminal demands.
How It Came True: Unfortunately, several incidents over the past few years have seen young women being targeted by computer - and sometimes webcam - hackers who threatened to (or simply did) share their private files online. However, this summer saw the rise in cases of young men falling victim to the scheme. One even suffered the exact same scenario as in Black Mirror.
After accidentally downloading so-called ransomware, an Australian man named Matt was sent a video of himself masturbating, taken from his own webcam. The attached email warned that the hackers would release the footage to his Facebook friends (a screenshot of his account was provided to prove they weren't bluffing) if he would not pay them $10,000. After much deliberation, Matt posted a Facebook status warning his friends of the content of the video. He did not hear from the hackers again.
You're currently staring at your webcam in abject horror, am I right?