It has received reports from eight people who have been blackmailed in this way since December last year, but said it believed that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Potentially deadly consequences
The department's director of retail and services, Lanie Chopping, said none of the eight victims sent money, but the emotional impact was significant. In some cases, the targets have been enticed into having cyber-sex via Skype, which was recorded.
Ms Chopping said the scammers, who in all eight recent cases were from overseas, went to great lengths to make their profiles appear real. WA ScamNet warned people who found themselves in a similar situation to not send money, saying the demands would only escalate. Instead, they urged victims to report the profile to the sites' administrators, block the scammer and delete them from their friends list, deactivate their own account for two weeks and contact Consumer Protection.
Models, actors used to lure victims
But to avoid the situation entirely, WA ScamNet said intimate photos and videos should not be shared online with anyone, under any circumstances. More stories from Western Australia.

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Tinder: Users being blackmailed for money by fake profiles over nudes
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By science reporter Belinda Smith and environment reporter Nick Kilvert. It is a cautionary tale that you have probably heard before, but the reality is that Australians are having their lives turned upside down every day by this type of scam.
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One in five Australians have experienced imaged based abuse before, with men and women equally likely to report being a victim, according research from RMIT University. Unfortunately, there is no easy way out of this blackmailing scam once you are in it and paying the money is likely to just escalate the situation. You would keep asking them for more money. Mr McAlpine works for Internet Removals , which helps the victims of these types of scams, and advises people who find themselves in these situations to get in contact with them straight away.
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Tinder does have warnings in place for users, telling them to look out for people using fake profiles in order to extort money from people. Countless of Australians are being targeted by these scams each day. While at first glance these profiles may seem like any other, there are a few things you can do to really check if they are legit:. Naturally, with the growth of the Internet, social media and apps, extortion has been taken to a whole new level, which brings us to sextortion.
Usually when you meet someone on an online dating site like match.
Warning 'sextortion' on the rise as models used in online blackmail scams
However, that's not always the worst case scenario. There are people out there using these sites and apps to uncover some dirty laundry on the person and then blackmail them. Have you met someone online or using a hookup app and exchanged some naughty conversations or nude photos and now the person you thought was interested in the same thing is now threatening to tell your job, your family or the police unless you give them money?
You are not alone. This happens all the time, and most people are too embarrassed to admit it.