A Midlands student was allegedly blackmailed in a ‘sextortion’ scam, police have said.
The 23-year-old university student was contacted on Instagram in October 2023 by who he thought was a woman.
Their conversation moved to Snapchat, where the chats started to ‘turn sexual’.
The student, from Nottingham, was allegedly asked to send intimate pictures of himself.
Police say the student was asked to hand over money after sending the images or they would be ‘sent to family, friends and people at his university’.
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Nottinghamshire Police said: “Sextortion is when criminals pose as someone else online, usually as a young attractive female, and befriend young males online.
“They will engage in conversation before asking them to send intimate pictures of themselves.
“Once sent, they will then threaten to send their intimate images to family and friends unless they are paid in cash, vouchers or bitcoin.”
Detective Sergeant Alana Scott, who is investigating the incident, said sextortion has a ‘detrimental impact on victims, not only emotionally but financially’.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Berryman added: “We take all reports of sextortion extremely seriously in Nottingham and will support any victims affected by this crime.
“We launched a police campaign to educate young people about sextortion following a rise in reports, which was widely publicised in the media at the time.
“We have also worked with both universities.
“Anyone who has been affected by sextortion, please don’t suffer in silence.
“Please get in touch with us as soon as possible. We are here to help.”
Adam Abimbola, 25, of Woden Road, Wolverhampton, and Ifedolapo Bamgbaiye, 26, of Onslow Road, Southampton, have since been charged with blackmail.
Both will are due before Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on February 6.
