Ottawa police see a rise in sextortion cases this winter
Ottawa police are warning the public of the dangers of texting explicit images to people on social media platforms, after seeing a spike in sextortion cases this winter.
Sgt. Michael Cathcart says investigators in the Ottawa Police west division have been hearing from approximately 10 sextortion victims a week.
"It's a dangerous practice that we see far too often here in the city," Cathcart told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal.
Cathcart says sextortion is the act of extorting money after someone sends a photograph over social media or through a text message. Suspects are looking for victims by first befriending them online and then asking for photos.
"A lot of the victims of this are predominately male, younger males, that are involved on various social media platforms," Cathcart said.
"They strike up a conversation with somebody; it's often somebody not in their contacts list or on their friends' list, it's a new contact."
Police say the victims are all ages, with approximately 50 incidents reported over the past two months.
"The conversations usually start off fairly benign, 'Hey, how are you?' 'It's nice to meet you.' 'I'd love a picture.'" Cathcart said.
"Inevitably, the conversation turns into something of a sexual nature; the receiver is asking for a photo, and one will be sent. You really don't know who you are sending it to, and within minutes there are messages being sent back saying, 'Send me a sum of money or I will release this photo to all of the friends on your contact list,' and this is where the crime occurs."
Cathcart says the demand for a sum of money starts with an "astronomical number" like $5,000, followed by a negotiation by the victim. The suspect will then provide information to send money through Google or Apple Pay accounts, but the contact name will be different than the original person, Cathcart said.
Ottawa police offer the following safety tips for people to prevent sextortion:
- Limit the amount of personal information you post on social media channels to make it difficult for scammers to learn information about you
- Set your social media privacy settings to limit who can contact you
- Don’t accept unknown friend requests
- Cover your webcam when you aren’t using it so you can’t be recorded without your consent
- Don’t click on links or download files from unknown sources
- Requests for intimate images of yourself should be a red flag and never send them to any social media platform or electronic device
Police say if you are the victim of sextortion, don't try to handle it alone. You should follow these steps:
- Stop all communication with the suspect
- Save all texts, images, and communications
- If you are a youth, or even if you are legally an adult, tell your parent or guardian so they can help you
- Contact police
- Make a report through Cybertip.ca
- Report the suspect user through the social media platform from which they are contacting you
Cathcart says it is difficult to track down suspects online, so you need to make sure you know who you are sharing images with.
"My best advice is think before you click. You don't know who is on the other end of that keyboard."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.