We are alerting the public about an ongoing cyber-blackmail scam that threatens to release intimate images or video recordings online if money is not paid.
Sextortion, a hybrid of sex and extortion, includes criminals duping victims into giving intimate photographs digitally, which are then used as a blackmail strategy in exchange for money.
Victims are contacted at random via social media by phony profiles.
Criminals gain the victim’s trust before requesting intimate photographs and videos. Once sent, scammers upload the images on public forums and threaten to send them to the victim’s family and friends if they do not pay them money.
Several sextortion instances have recently been recorded in the county.
Since 2020, approximately 300 have been reported.
More than 100 people have been duped into paying money to scammers as part of the scam this year alone.
They are frequently lured into doing so by crooks who promise that providing money will prevent immoral photographs from being shared on social media sites.
People have reported receiving emails from scammers threatening to upload or broadcast videos on social media in exchange for cash.
You can defend yourself from scammers in a variety of methods, including:
- Setting your social media profiles to private and limiting who can see them Accept strangers’ requests and avoid sending obscene photos or videos online. They are unrecoverable.
- Never engage in dialogue with these fraud artists, and never give any money. If you do, they will very certainly continue to harass you and demand more.
- Report any accounts to the social media site they are using right away to prevent other victims and to get the account closed down. Never send personal information to someone you do not know online.
