Police warn of increasing threat of sextortion from foreign criminal gangs

There has been a dramatic rise in the number of victims falling prey to criminal gangs who dupe individuals into persuading them to perform sexual acts online, that are then filmed and used as a form of blackmail. Police say they have been alarmed by the rise in so-called sextortion, where the victim is forced to hand over money in in order to keep the material private, particularly due to the number of suicides linked to the crime. Those most vulnerable to sextortion are younger people and the elderly, police say, and they are urging the public to be vigilant.