‘Sextortion’ blackmail scam targets local juvenile

A juvenile who was duped into sending indecent images via Instagram was blackmailed online for cash, the RGP have confirmed.

An RGP spokesman said that at around 3am on Thursday a juvenile reported an attempted blackmail.

“A male juvenile was communicating with an unknown person, who was using a fake Instagram account,” the spokesman said.

“The suspect convinced the victim to send indecent images of himself.”

“The suspect then attempted to blackmail him for money, threatening to share the images on social media if he didn’t.”

The juvenile did not send over any funds, and instead blocked the account.

The matter was reported to Instagram and the RGP.