Lincolnshire Police have had a recent report of sextortion in the Sleaford area and want to warn others of the dangers of sharing intimate images online.
In the recent report, the victim has met a someone on a dating app and has moved their conversation over to WhatsApp. During this, they have video called and the victim has been encouraged to show their genitals. The video call was ended shortly after, and the victim has received messages asking for a large amount of money or the screenshots of the video call will be shared. Shortly after, contacts of the victim then received screenshots of the video call and then video was uploaded to a pornographic website. The investigation into this remains ongoing.
Sextortion involves threatening to publish sexual information, photos or videos about someone to either extort money or to force the victim to do something against their will. Criminals will often target people through dating apps, social media, webcams, or pornography sites. They may use a fake identity to befriend you online. If a person you’ve just met online chats to you in a sexual way, or asks for sexual images, it might be an attempt at sextortion. This type of crime can happen both very quickly, or over a long time.
What can you do?
The strongest pieces of advice we have are not to share intimate pictures of yourself online, and to review your privacy settings to ensure that people can’t see who your friends and family are.
Once an image is gone from your possession, you have lost all control of it.
You should be wary if someone you’ve met online:
-is trying to start a relationship with you very quickly (they may even send you a sexual image first).
-has sent friend requests to lots of people.
-repeatedly asks you to do sexual things that you’re not comfortable with.
-tells you they’ve hacked your account or have access to your contacts.
What to do if you’ve been targeted:
If you are a victim of sextortion, it’s not your fault. There is help and support available.
-Don’t panic, help and support is available.
-Stop all communication with the offender immediately.
-Don’t pay, even if you are tempted, as there is no guarantee that this will stop the threats.
-Save the evidence: take screenshots, save messages and images. Make a note of usernames, email addresses, phone numbers and bank account numbers
-Collect URL links to where your images or information is being shared online.
Most social media sites have rules against sharing intimate content without consent. You should be able to get the material removed. If you’ve paid the person, consider telling your bank. They may not be able to get any money back but it helps us and the banks to know it’s happened.
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