Careful what you reveal about yourself on the Internet, especially if it involves doffing your duds.
The warning comes from the Richmond RCMP after they investigated four cases of attempted extortion involving local young males - aged between 15 and 20 - who got involved with video chat sites over the last month.
According to RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Stephanie Ashton, the four hooked up online with what they believed were females from other countries, and during the course of their conversations exposed themselves via their webcam.
"Almost right afterwards they then get this message demanding payment through Western Union, otherwise the images would be uploaded on Facebook for their friends and family to see," Ashton said, adding the amounts went as high as $3,000.
No money was paid in these instances, but Ashton believes that now this story has been made public, there may have been others duped into the same extortion scam who come forward.
"This just reinforces the warning that be very careful what you reveal about yourself online," Ashton said. "These images are something that can come back to haunt you 10 years from now and maybe hurt your chances at getting a job."
As for a criminal investigation, Ashton said one complication is the online chat sites the males used were not the same.
"Chances are this is probably so much bigger than the incidents that have come to our attention in Richmond," Ashton said.
