Gardai have issued a warning to the public about sharing intimate photos of themselves online after one married man was caught out by scammers.
The "distressed" man, who is in his 60s, is reported to have started a relationship online with a woman which developed quickly despite the pair never meeting in person.
After agreeing to the woman's request to share intimate pictures of himself, he was then told that the images would be sent to all his phone contacts and on his social media accounts.
Terrified that his wife and two daughters would receive the photos, the man reportedly sent €500 to the scammer, but the blackmail didn't end there.
He was subsequently "bombarded" with messages demanding more money, as the Limerick Leader reports.
Sergeant Ber Leetch, crime prevention officer for the Limerick division, highlighted the incident to the paper in the hopes that other people would avoid a similar situation.
She explained that although the man did not make a formal complaint to gardai, he still got in contact to ask for advice on what to do.
"I told him that even though he was naive to send intimate images of himself to anybody, he was still an injured party under Cocos Law," she said.
"I told him not to send any more money as the demands would never end unless he closed down all of his online accounts and changed his phone number.
"Only then could he take away the power from these criminals."
Sergeant Leetch said the man has had no further contact from the scammers.
She advised anyone in a similar sitaution to reach out to someone for help and to not pay out any money to the fraudsters.
