Scottish Borders Police advise 'sextortion' victims to report crimes
Scottish Borders Police has advised victims of so-called 'sextortion' crimes in the Borders to report them.
'Sextortion' is a growing crime on social media where victims are exploited for money.
These crimes often involve the victim being enticed to send nude, explicit photographs or videos to someone that has befriended them online.
The victims are then blackmailed into sending money - or on occasions gift cards - to prevent the images being distributed among people they know.
A police spokesperson said: "The scam is particularly aimed at men between the ages of 18 and 44, but we have reports of both male and female victims aged from teens to 60s.
"Young people living away from home can be particularly vulnerable to this type of scam.
"Our advice is to be extremely cautious regarding online contacts and chat - don't give out your personal details, be sceptical of anyone wishing to move the conversation to another platform, and do not give anyone the chance to exploit or blackmail you."
Scottish Borders Police want anyone who finds themselves blackmailed in this way to contact 101 or 999 in an emergency.
Victim Support, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the National Police Chiefs' Council has advice for those who have been, or are likely to be, targeted:
Don't panic
Contact your local police and internet service provider immediately. The police will take your case seriously, will deal with it in confidence and will not judge you for being in this situation.
Don't communicate
Cut all communication with the criminals and take screen shots of all your communication.
Suspend your Facebook account (but do not delete it) and use the online reporting process to report the matter to Skype, YouTube etc.
You can also get the video blocked when reporting it and set up an alert in case the video resurfaces.
Deactivating the Facebook account temporarily rather than shutting it down will mean the data are preserved and will help police to collect evidence.
The account can also be reactivated at any time so your online memories are not lost forever.
Keep an eye on all the accounts which you might have linked in case the criminals try to contact you via one of those.
Don't pay
Many victims who have paid have continued to get more demands for higher amounts of money.
In some cases, even when the demands have been met the offenders will still go on to post the explicit videos.
If you have already paid, check to see if the money has been collected. If it has, and if you are able, then make a note of where it was collected from.
If it hasn't, then you can cancel the payment and the sooner you do that the better.
Preserve evidence
Make a note of all details provided by the offenders, for example; the Skype name (particularly the Skype ID), the Facebook URL; the Western Union or MoneyGram Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN); any photos/videos that were sent, etc.
It is important not to delete any correspondence.
Further help and support
If this has happened to you and you are under 18, talk to an adult that you trust.
It may feel like there is no way out, but there are professionals who can help you. You can also get help from:
PAPYRUS - provides confidential advice and support and works to prevent young suicide in the UK.
Samaritans - to talk any time you like in your own way and off the record.
Other sites that can offer advice include: Get Safe Online, Revenge Porn Helpline, Skype advice on protecting yourself from blackmail, Thinkuknow.