Over 9,000 cases of sextortion have been recorded in April

As the nation progresses through the fifth week of the lockdown, there has been a steady rise in the number of fraudulent scams such as sextortion across the country.

The sextortion phishing scam, first identified by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) in July 2018, particularly continues to be reported to Action Fraud in high numbers.

Sextortion cases happen when fraudsters issue threats that seem even more believable by sending their message from what appears to be the victim's own email account, and revealing the password.

The emails contain the victim’s own password in the subject line and demand a payment in Bitcoin to prevent videos of the victim, on their computer visiting adult websites, being shared.

An example email reads: “It Seems that, XXXXXX, is your password.

“I require your complete attention for the upcoming 24 hrs, or I may make sure you that you live out of guilt for the rest of your lifetime.

“Hey, you do not know me personally. However I know all the things concerning you. Your present fb contact list, mobile phone contacts along with all the digital activity in your computer from past 176 days.

“Which includes, your self pleasure video footage, which brings me to the main motive why I’m composing this particular mail to you.

“Well the last time you went to see the porn material websites, my malware ended up being activated inside your computer which ended up documenting a beautiful footage of your self pleasure play by activating your cam. (you got a unquestionably weird taste by the way haha)

“I have the full recording. If, perhaps you think I am playing around, simply reply proof and I will be forwarding the particular recording randomly to 8 people you know.”

Head of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith, said: “Sextortion scams involve messages that can look particularly convincing because they often include the recipient’s genuine password.

“If you receive an email that threatens you, your family, or your property in any way, and asks you to make a Bitcoin payment, don’t take the bait.”