Cyber-enabled blackmail

SEXTORTION

This is a very specific kind of cyber-enabled crime with the overwhelming majority of victims are men.

Criminals, often purporting to be a very attractive female will look to target their victim and befriend them online, often via a social media platform or games chatroom. 

After a short time the victim is lured to perform sexual acts in front of their web-camera for their new “friend”. Unbeknown to the victim, their acts are recorded by the criminals who then use it in an attempt to extort the victims and threaten that if they do not comply with their demand, the recording(s) would be uploaded to the internet and sent to the victims’ friends and/or family. In the majority of cases the motive is financially driven.

For victims of this type of scam please consider the following;

1: Do NOT pay.

2: Contact your local police, they will take your case seriously, will deal with it in confidence.

3: Do NOT communicate further with the offenders.

4: Make a note of all details provided by the offenders, for example;  the Skype I.D.; . the Facebook URL; . the Western Union or MoneyGram Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN); e. any photos that were sent, etc.