A woman ‘took control’ of a situation where her husband was being blackmailed by an internet scammer after he sent them intimate pictures of himself.

The sextortion fraud, reported by Windsor and Maidenhead’s local police chief yesterday (August 8), did not result in any financial loss for the couple, however.

It began on an X-rated Facebook page when the woman’s husband was persuaded to send intimate videos of himself to someone posing as a woman on the social media site.

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After sending the images, demands for money came in “immediately” with the scammer requesting a $200 transfer.

However, his wife then “took control of the situation” and told the fraudster she was reporting them to the police.

The scammers responded that they had copied photos of the couple’s children from their Facebook and would publish them if they did not agree to their demands.

Following this threat, the victims deleted all their social media contacts and have not paid any money.

This was the second sextortion scam reported to Thames Valley Police in Windsor and Maidenhead in a week.

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The first came when a man received a friend request on Facebook from an ‘attractive young woman’ and they started talking and started FaceTiming on another app.

She started to send intimate videos of herself to him and he reciprocated.

Immediately afterwards the woman said she had saved the images and threatened the man saying she would post the pictures online and ‘ruin his life’ if he did not pay her $1,149 in Dashcoin -- which is a cryptocurrency.

The man blocked the woman on Facebook and called the police -- he did not send the scammer any money.

Jeffrey Pick, Windsor and Maidenhead’s community police chief, said: “These cases are really distressing for the victims.

“They know they have acted foolishly, but there could be enormous repercussions if the videos are sent to all their contacts.

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“Fortunately – so far – we have not had a case where once blocked, the scammers have done this.

“Do not write, say, do, video, film, send photos, text anything online that you would not want your family, relatives, friends, neighbours, work colleagues - boss – everyone in your personal address book - to see, read or hear!

“These cases are devastating and cause months of worry.”

What is sextortion?

According to Lancashire Police, sextortion is “a form of blackmail where, usually, victims are lured into performing sexual acts in front of their web-cam, then unbeknown to them, their acts are recorded by criminals.

“These criminals then attempt to extort the victim, usually for money by threatening to reveal the intimate images unless their demands are met.

“Victims are commonly targeted through dating apps, social media, webcams or adult pornography sites.

“While sextortion can be committed by individuals, organised crime gangs are commonly behind it.”