Canadian Press file photo

By Shaun Penner

Online Blackmail

Grande Prairie RCMP investigating “concerning rise” in reports of online sextortion

Jul 12, 2021 | 2:23 PM

Grande Prairie RCMP are reminding residents to be careful about what they share over the internet, following what they call a concerning trend of reports of “sextortion” in the area.

RCMP says in these reported cases, victims receive friend requests or other messages on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and/or on a dating application, which are subsequently moved to direct messaging platforms.

The victims in these cases then send an intimate image or video of themselves, where the suspect then attempts to demand the victim to send them money or their image will be sent out to their contacts, friends and/or family.

After a trend in reports began cropping up in southern Alberta earlier this year, Sgt. Shawn Graham with the Grande Prairie RCMP says they discovered that trend was started to occur in this area.

“Through our local analyst at the detachment, we were able to see that. We’re also (seeing) a number of complaints just towards the end of June and into July, where these social media platforms were used to extort money or attempt to extort money, from individuals.”

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Graham adds that in these instances, the perpetrator will often follow the victim’s friends and family on social media to add legitimacy to their threat.

He says the safest bet residents can make to avoid such a situation is to not accept friend requests from individuals who are unknown to them, and to not share such intimate material over the internet.

“Things can quickly turn when they become personal, or become sexual,” said Graham. “It’s extremely risky to send nudes or live stream sexual acts. You can easily lose control over what happens to it.”

Graham says anyone who may be a victim should immediately halt all communications with the perpetrator, to not comply with the threat and to report it to police.

He adds victims should keep a record of the correspondence with the suspect though, to help police in their investigation.

“Stop all the communications, block whoever and keep that correspondence, because that will be important for investigating the matter.”

Anyone who believe they are a victim of sextortion can visit dontgetsextorted.ca and needhelpnow.ca for resources on how to manage instances of sextortion, as well as where to turn for support.

Residents can also check out cybertip.ca/sextortion for more information on offender tactics and warning signs.