Police release 'sextortion' advisory video

Police have warned netizens - users of the internet - to stop and think before sharing intimate photographs or videos online.

The Community Media Relations Unit of the police force has released an educational video, highlighting the risks of sharing intimate photographs or videos online.

The law enforcement unit said that in the first six months of 2016, over 55 individuals – an average of two or three people per week – had come to them for help after being victims of a practise known as “sextortion,” where the victim is duped into sending compromising photographs or video of themselves to a criminal posting as a potential sexual partner, which are then used to extort money from the victim.

The majority of victims are males aged between 18 and 50 years old. Generally, the victim would have responded to an invitation to a webcam chat with a stranger and convinced to provide nude photographs or perform sex acts on camera. Threats to publish the material or forward it to family and friends if a ransom is not paid then follow and often continue even after repeated payments.

Police appealed to the public not to trust messages received from people they do not know, with a reminder that there is no such thing as absolute control on what happens to information that is shared online.

The Cyber Crime Unit advises those who are or become victims of this crime to never pass on any money, credit card or personal details to the extortionists and to go straight to the nearest police station and file a report. There, victims will receive guidance as to how to proceed.