Police in Nottinghamshire are encouraging residents to remain vigilant following a series of ‘sextortion’ scams during the coronavirus pandemic.
'Sextortion' scam messages are often emails that claim the scammer has hacked their laptop and acquired footage of them engaging in sexual activity.
They often use the victim’s password in the email.
The sender then claims they will not share the video if they are sent a sum of money, typically via a bitcoin transaction.
And officers from Nottinghamshire Police's fraud and cyber crime units say this type of crime has increased during the current pandemic.
Fiona Price, of Nottinghamshire Police’s fraud unit, said: “These scams can often appear very legitimate, using a password obtained through a data breach on a company that may have logged your details.
“If you see one of these emails, do not be alarmed. Never pay money as a result of these emails and report them to Action Fraud.
“We’d also recommend that you check whether or not your email address and passwords have been compromised in a data breach via www.haveibeenpwned.com.”
Anyone who is a victim of fraud should always report it to Action Fraud.
