Police release warning about online extortion

Durham police are reminding the public to be cautious about what they share online after an Oshawa man was threatened to have personal images spread across the web.

The 32-year-old man reported the incident to police on May 18, saying an attractive female who said she was a nursing student in Toronto had approached him on Facebook the night before. According to police, the two started to chat, which later led to the two going into a video chat and exposing themselves on camera.

However, the female later emailed the man to say she had recorded the video chat, threatening to share it with his friends, family and co-workers unless he paid her $25,000. He refused to pay, and called police. The investigation into this case is ongoing.

“Durham Regional Police would like to advise the public not to put themselves at risk like this on social media platforms,” police state in a news release.

“Although you see an avatar of a person on the screen, you really don’t know who you are dealing with.”