THE PSNI HAS issued a major warning after four people were targeted by online sexual blackmail in one day last weekend.

Commonly known as ‘sextortion’, the blackmail involved threats made by an anonymous individual online to share a person’s sexual images, clips or information.

The nature of the sextortion can be predatory where the victim is coerced into sending more intimate pictures under the threat of sharing existing ones, or financial where the perpetrator threatens to share the images of the victim unless a ransom is paid.

The PSNI says it received 70 reports of sextortion per month at its peak two years ago before falling to an average of 45 between last year and now.

The warning comes after the force said it received four reports last Saturday, 24 May, alone from four men in the Belfast area who claimed to have been targeted.

Detective Inspector Karen Hamill explained how to identify the hallmarks of a sextortion attempt: “Typically, a person uses a false identity to befriend a victim via social media.

“The exchange may start with flirting or flattery, but ends with the victim coaxed into sending intimate images or performing sexual acts online, unwittingly in front of a camera.

“Behind the fake and attractive guise, there’s a criminal. These people are often part of sophisticated and organised crime groups, mostly based overseas. They extort their victims by threatening to share those images or recordings unless demands for money are met.”

Detective Inspector Hamill said that the majority of victims are young men, aged between 18 and 23. She urges people to be on their guard and to always be aware of sharing intimate images online.

She offered this advice: “Don’t panic; don’t respond to demands; and don’t enter into further communication. If you can, confide in a trusted friend or family member, and please contact officers immediately on 101.”

In the South, sextortion is illegal under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act, also known as ‘Coco’s Law’, which came into effect in 2021.

To date, An Garda Síochána has commenced 72 prosecutions related to 49 investigations under Coco’s Law, with 82% of victims being male.