Local man blackmailed in 'sextortion' scam

A local man was blackmailed out of £90 after he was duped into a cyber ‘sextortion’ scam over the weekend, the Royal Gibraltar Police confirmed.

The incident was reported to the RGP at around 10pm last Saturday, after the cyber seductress threatened to share the man's nude photos with friends and family.

The matter unfolded when the victim received an unsolicited message on Instagram that appeared to be from a woman in the USA.

"After sending the man some nude photos, she requested one in return, to which he obliged," an RGP spokesman said.

"He then received a message almost immediately demanding £500 or the blackmailer would send his photo to his friends and family on Instagram. He sent £90 and then blocked the person and reported the matter to the police."

The RGP has advised the public not to accept friend requests from strangers, not to send intimate photos or videos to strangers online and to update privacy settings on social media accounts.

The spokesman also advised that any victim of this type of scam should not respond to the blackmailer's demands and to report the issue to the relevant social networking site and to the police.