Warning over sextortion from Wiltshire Police
There's been a rise in the form of cybercrime
Wiltshire Police are warning people of the dangers of sextortion after a rise in incidents this year.
Sextortion is a form of blackmail where a criminal uses a fake identity to befriend victims usually on social networking sites.
The are then lured into performing explicit acts in front of a webcam which are recorded.
Victims are then threatened with the images being revealed online unless they give into their demands.
Detectives from central CID in Wiltshire Police are currently conducting enquiries in relation to a number of cases of sextortion.
In one case, a man in his 20s had been talking to a woman on social media and had sent her a compromising picture. She has then told him to send her £500 or she will send the image to all his friends and family.
In a similar incident, another man also aged in his 20s had been told he must send 500 euros to unknown individuals online, and if he failed to do so, they would send a nude image of him to all his Facebook contacts.
Det Con Ryan Churchley said: “We are beginning to see a bit of an increase in incidents of this nature reported to police and with a younger generation that live and breathe social media and may be naïve to the consequences resulting from their actions, we felt it pertinent to raise awareness of the issues surrounding sextortion.
“The vast majority of these types of incidents are perpetrated by professional criminals trying to make easy money. Victims are often, but not always, targeted because they have visited certain internet sites, where criminals lie in wait.”
Anyone can be a victim of sextortion and those targeted often find it embarrassing to come forward too.
If you think you may be a victim, call 101 to report your concerns.
For under 18s, additional support is available via Child Exploitation Online Protection (CEOP).