Crime Prevention Advisory on Cyber Extortion

From Singapore Police Force facebook page:

Police have received several reports on cyber extortion recently.

These cases usually involve female suspects who attempt to extort money by threatening to post compromising photos or videos of victims, mostly males, following an online cyber-sex session over a web camera. The victims are coaxed into undressing and performing indecent acts in front of a webcam. The process is video recorded and the males are blackmailed thereafter. In most cases, the female suspects are believed to be based overseas.

The female suspects would usually get acquainted with the male victims via social networking websites like Tagged.com, Skype or Facebook. The public is advised to take the following preventive measures when interacting online:

i) Be wary of messages from unknown people who want to befriend you.

ii) Do not accede to any request that may put you in vulnerable positions, such as performing compromising acts in front of the webcam, or giving personal details about yourself when interacting with other internet users.

iii) If anyone attempts to extort money from you or should you become a victim of such an attempt, call the police immediately.

iv) Do not remit or transfer money.

For more information and advisory on cyber extortion, please view Crimewatch 2013 Episode 4 @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrapCuor4rQ