Officers have issued a warning after seeing a huge 153 per cent rise in reports of ‘sextortion’ scams across County Durham.
Durham Constabulary is urging people to be aware of the dangers of sextortion – a form of blackmail in which scammers trick victims into sharing intimate and explicit images of themselves. Scammers then threaten to share these images or recordings online, or with the victim’s family and friends, unless their demands for money are met.
The force is warning people to be wary when talking to people online, following a stark rise in the number of sextortion incidents being reported to Durham Constabulary over recent years. In 2020, 53 incidents were reported to the force, compared with 134 in 2021 – an increase of 153 per cent.
Overwhelming, the majority of reports were from male victims ranging from 13 to 81 years old , with the most targeted group being men aged 18 to 25. Sextortion scams can be committed by individuals, but sophisticated organised crime groups are usually behind them, with perpetrators often targeting people through dating apps, social media, webcams, or pornography sites.
They use fake identities to befriend victims online, often posing as an attractive person who is sexually interested in the victim or by claiming to be a friend-of-a-friend, or other acquaintance, before luring them in further…
