Beware online dating scams as sextortion cases prevalent

POLICE are encouraging people to stop sending nude pictures to strangers online, after a steady stream of blackmail incidents.

Constable Nick Turner, of Dunedin, said people, both young and old, were getting caught up in online scams where they were induced to send money out of lust or love.

In Dunedin, police were dealing with several cases a week, often involving young people who were were typically approached online by a profile featuring an image of an attractive person, Const Turner said.

A bit of general chitchat would result in nude pictures being swapped before the scammer demanded payment and made threats to send the pictures to friends and family members.

Often payment was demanded in gift cards which could be exchanged for cash by the scammer who could be overseas.

Online scams involving elderly people looking for love could be just as prevalent and often involved larger sums, Const Turner said.

Internet users were encouraged to avoid sharing compromising pictures with strangers and to be sceptical when messages arrived unexpectedly.

Requests to send money should always result in alarm bells going off, Const Turner said.

One Dunedin student, who declined to be named, said he narrowly avoided falling prey to a similar online scam.

He met a man on dating app Grindr, who suggested they move to WhatsApp, where they discussed a ‘‘sugar daddy’’ type arrangement, where the student would be given large amounts of money for making the man feel good about himself.

He sent his bank details, but the man insisted that they set up a transaction through an online payment platform where the student would need to transfer about $50 to verify the transaction first.

It ‘‘seemed sketchy’’ so the student deleted WhatsApp.

He was ‘‘kind of gutted’’ he did not get the money he was promised, but said he did not have high expectations to begin with.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jodie Lyons said the issue of ‘‘sextortion’’ targeting young people was a global one and wanted young people, their parents and caregivers to be aware of risks and to remain vigilant.

In the event of an extortion attempt, the best protection a victim had was to seek specialist support from police as soon as possible.

‘‘We will not criticise or blame you — what has happened is not your fault and we are here to help you,’’ she said.