Mounties in New Brunswick say they are seeing an increase in financially motivated online sextortion scams across the province.
Online sextortion is a form of blackmail that involves someone threatening to send sexual images or videos of a person to others if they are not paid.
Police say occurrences of online sextortion have increased significantly over the last few years. There have been 66 reports since 2023, including 43 so far this year.
Officers are now hoping to bring more awareness to this crime by educating the public.
“The most common method used by the offenders is a friend request on a social media platform, then the conversations move into a private chat, and once a rapport and trust have been established, it is followed by a request for intimate images. The extortion takes place when the scammer threatens to share the photos with family and friends unless money is sent,” said Cpl. Hans Ouellette.
“The best advice I can give if this happens to you is to deactivate, but do not delete your social media account or images, save a copy of any images you sent, take screenshots of the messages and the person’s profile including their username, and report it to police.
“Trust your instincts, practice caution when communicating online, and don’t be too embarrassed to ask for help. I want to give hope to anyone facing this difficult situation by telling them that this is not permanent; tools exist to take down these images.”
Police say everyone is at risk, however, recent findings suggest that young males appear to be more vulnerable to this type of crime.
If you have been a victim of sextortion, contact your local police. You can also contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 if you have information that could help.
For more information on how to protect yourself and your children online, visit the following links:
