THERE has been a rise in the number of local people reporting romance, or ‘sextortion’, scams.
Last year hundreds of cases of these scams were reported across the North, and now the PSNI has warned more and more people in the Fermanagh area are being targeted by the fraudsters.
Sextortion and romance scams usually involve someone using a fake profile to befriend their potential victim online. They can begin with simple flirting and flattery, but can end with the victim being coaxed into sending intimate images or videos. The scammers then use this to extort money from their victim.
Others involve the person whom the victim has befriended convincing them to hand money over for fake investments in the likes of cryptocurrency, with the promise of quick profit. This was what happened in a particularly bad case last year, when one woman was swindled out of £112,000.
Police did not reveal where in the North the woman had been from, but said she had met the scammer on an online dating app, and they had developed a relationship over the course of a year.
This week, a police spokesman once again warned local people to be savvy to these scammers.
“We have seen an increase in the number of sextortion reports coming through to us in Fermanagh and Omagh,” they said.
“These scammers often start by befriending victims on social media and then move to private platforms like Snapchat to ask for more intimate photos or videos. If someone threatens to share intimate images or videos of you online, this is sextortion.”
The spokesman said more information could be found on sextortion scams on the PSNI website, at https://crowd.in/nKg8GU, and that the public can file a report online at https://crowd.in/acm2zD.
“If you have been the victim of sextortion, do not feel alone – there is help available,” they said, urging anyone who has been targeted by such scams to report it to police.
“Your case will be dealt with in a sensitive and understanding manner. We have dealt with many similar cases and specialist, local resources have been dedicated to dealing with crimes of this nature.”
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