‘Don’t panic – sextortion scammers have no hold over you’
When Alan Irwin matched with a potential partner on Tinder, he had no idea he’d be speaking to the police just days later.
The 35-year-old went to them last month to report an attempted sexual blackmail scam after a man she met through a dating app threatened to share intimate images of her with friends and family.
Rather than contact the scammer, Irwin blocked the account and refused to comply with the threats.
“If you don’t panic, they can’t hold you,” he said.
Irwin chose to talk about the experience to raise awareness, especially among young people who may be more prone to panic.
“I would say they would be received much worse than someone my age,” he added.
Last year a record number of under-18s in the UK sought help after being subjected to online sextortion. Internet Watch Foundation.
Irwin was asked to send money otherwise the intimate video would be shared online [BBC]
Irwin matched with the profile last month and spent several days chatting on Tinder before being asked to move the conversation to other platforms.
The two eventually started talking on WhatsApp and arranged a video call that later turned sexual.
“As soon as we finished things, that’s when the meeting ended,” he said.
Minutes later, she received a phone call, followed by a text with a screen recording of the video call: “This is your explicit video and I’ve pulled all your family and friends’ information from Facebook and Instagram. Will you tell me to share or delete it?”
“If you want to solve this, take my call.”
Irwin, from Larne, told BBC News NI: “There was a bit of panic in the beginning because frankly no one wants that kind of video to be shared with friends and family.”
He blocked the account and sent a warning to his contacts on Facebook to avoid possible attempts to distribute the images.
The fraudster started sending himself screenshots of the video sent to his followers from a different number. “Ask for more,” the scammer said after each screenshot.
Irwin later contacted several people shown in the screenshots and said none of them reported receiving anything.
He had no doubts before the video call.
“Because we’ve been talking for so long that you kind of build trust with them,” he said.
One of the aspects he was most concerned about was that the profile appeared to be verified.
“You always think if they get verified on Tinder, they’re a real person. You’re talking to real people. You don’t really think it’s going to happen to you,” he said.
Irwin reported the incident to the police, but Tinder blocked him because his account was unique.
“There was no chat history, there was nothing. Everything was lost,” he said.
“I couldn’t even show them his face because it was on his Tinder profile.”
Councilwoman Cara Hunter recently supported a sexual blackmail victim in her district [PA Media]
SDLP councilor for East Derry, Cara Hunter, said she recently attended a police interview with one of her constituents who was similarly targeted by online sextortion offenders.
The voter, a young man with autism, also matched with a verified account on Tinder.
As in Irwin’s case, the scammer used his Philippine number (+63) and gained the man’s trust before making a video call to blackmail him.
Hunter said the young man paid around £1,300 to prevent the images being shared.
“Holding something like that over someone’s head is absolutely horrific, a truly unique form of cruelty,” he said.
“When people become victims of sexual extortion scams, it’s really important that we put that blame and shame back on the perpetrator.”
Joanne Barnes says around 45 cases of sexual blackmail are reported to police every month [BBC]
Joanne Barnes is chief executive of Nexus, a charity supporting victims of domestic and sexual abuse.
He said about 45 cases of sexual blackmail are reported to the police every month.
“At one point there were 70 cases a month,” he added. “This is huge in our little community.”
Barnes said many victims were too embarrassed to come forward and these figures were likely just the tip of the iceberg.
He added that perpetrators of sexual blackmail often make “that connection” by being patient and calculating.
For victims, Barnes advised: “It may be an embarrassing few days, weeks or months, but what we really encourage people to do is not try to create a long-term solution to a short-term problem.
“Alan did the very logical thing. He took a breath and decided to take matters into his own hands to prevent this person or this group from further exploiting him.”
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said sextortion is a terrible crime and is being aggressively fought against.
He said he also removed the accounts of sextortion scammers when he became aware of them proactively or supports law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute fraudsters through user reports.
Tinder was also asked for comment.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed it received a report of suspected online blackmail in Larne at around 4pm on 12 May.
On the PSNI website Information about sexual blackmail, including guidance for victims.
Det Insp Ryan urged anyone who has been the target of sexual blackmail to report the matter to the police and stressed victims are not alone.
They added that sextortion can affect anyone, but the majority of victims are young men aged 15-23.
“Innocent people feel humiliated and distraught, but the important message is that victims should not let their shame stop them from reporting what happened,” they said.
“People make mistakes, no one is infallible and if you have been the victim of sexual blackmail then you are definitely not alone.”
If you or someone you know has been touched by any of the topics discussed in this story, you can visit: BBC Action Line To find information and organizations that can help.
