North Vancouver RCMP warn of blackmail, Bitcoin extortion scam

North Vancouver RCMP is warning residents about an ongoing extortion scam after receiving four reports in a two-day span.

In the scam, perpetrators claim to have acquired compromising pictures of the victim and direct them to send money to a Bitcoin wallet or the pictures will be sent to their friends and family.

The scam starts with the suspect sending an email to the victim stating that they have been looking at adult content online and that malware has captured compromising photos of the victims doing so.

The suspect then provides a photo of the victim’s house along with their name and DOB as proof that they know where the victim lives. The suspect then demands a $2,000 payment to be made immediately via Bitcoin wallet or they will release the photos to family and friends.

Thankfully in all of the four cases reported to the police, the victim did not comply with the demands and called police immediately, said Constable Mansoor Sahak, Media Relations Officer for the North Vancouver RCMP. We are asking residents to exercise caution to avoid falling victim to this scam and report these scams through our online crime reporting tool.

Protect yourself on the Internet:

• Do not give out personal information or information about your computer.
• Do not open email, files, or links from people you do not know and trust.
• Be very mindful in sharing information on Personal Accounts or Websites

If you are a victim of sextortion:

• Immediately stop all communication. Deactivate (but don’t delete) any of the accounts you are using to communicate with the individual.
• Do not comply with the threat. In other words, never pay money and never send additional nudes. The situation will not get better by doing either of these things.
• If you have sent money, check to see if it has been collected and, if not, quickly cancel the payment.
• Make a police report.
• Keep the correspondence. Keep information such as the person’s username(s), social media account information, a copy of the communications, along with any images and/or videos that were sent.
• Talk to a trusted adult or counsellor.

To learn more about the North Vancouver RCMP’s online crime reporting tool, visit: https://bit.ly/3B6IPrP