NEWS RELEASE
SOUTH SIMCOE POLICE SERVICE
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The South Simcoe Police Service is investigating multiple reports of residents being targeted in a sextortion scam over social media.
Sextortion occurs when someone online threatens to send a sexual image or video of you to other people if you don't pay the person or provide more sexual content.
In the incidents under investigation by SSPS, an adult male victim received a Facebook Friend/Facebook Message request from an account with a woman's name. After only a few minutes of texting, the female asked to start a video chat.
During the video chat, sexual images of the victim were obtained. The suspect immediately texted the victim and demanded money in exchange for the deletion of the video.
She threatened to distribute the video to the man's family and friends and post it to the internet if he did not comply. The suspect continued to pressure the victim by sending screen shots of his Facebook friends and names of his family members.
In one incident, the intimate video was sent to the Facebook account of the victim's mother.
The South Simcoe Police Service is making residents aware of this online extortion. If you are the target of Facebook sextortion, here are some next steps:
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Remain calm
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Do not give in to the suspect's demands for money
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Cease contact
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Save all communications with the suspect and any identifying information
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Immediately report the incident to police
Anyone who goes on the internet or uses social media can become a victim. Please talk to your children about this type of crime and online safety. If you are a victim of sextortion, call police and help us locate and apprehend these criminals.
If you have information regarding these occurrences, or if you have been victimized by this scam, contact Detective Constable Andrew Smith at 905-775-3311, extension #1043 or [email protected]
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