BEWARE of that charming new pal you have made online, the police warn.
Since April, eight people in Singapore have fallen victim to what started out as friendly banter, which descended into requests for sexual acts to be performed in front of a Web cam and then into blackmail.
The victims, both men and women, span the age spectrum, police say.
They met these 'friends', believed to be foreigners, through dating websites for example, and were persuaded to perform sexual acts in front of Web cams. The clips, recorded secretly, were later used to extort money from the victims.
In some cases, the crooks demanded upfront that the victims remit money to a foreign account to cover freight charges or Customs levies for gifts they claimed they were sending over.
If the victims refused to pay, the perpetrators threatened to disseminate the compromising videos or photographs.
