BANGKOK - Thai police have warned people to be wary of “sextortion” scams as lovers around the world celebrate Valentine’s Day on Tuesday.

Criminals have been taking advantage of lovestruck individuals to commit cyber crimes, including sextortion, as well as romance and hybrid scams, warned Mr Siriwat Deepor, deputy chief of the Technology Crime Suppression Division for the Royal Thai Police.

Sextortion occurs when victims are encouraged to send nude photos or explicit video clips to criminals who subsequently use the images to blackmail them, Mr Siriwat said.

“These crimes damage victims’ reputations and exploit them financially,” he said.

Sextortion is dangerous because friends and acquaintances of the victims are often the culprits, Mr Siriwat said.

“We would like to ask people to be careful with nude photos or (sexually) explicit video clips, as they could become victims of sextortion,” he said.

In romance scams, criminals may use fake but sexually alluring avatars on messaging apps to lure victims into sending them money, he said.

Hybrid scams may also involve fake avatars, but they differ from romance scams because they encourage victims to “invest” money in fraudulent schemes, police said.

Some victims may also be tricked into clicking a link or downloading an app that gives the scammer remote access to the victim’s smartphone.

The Royal Thai Police Office said there were more than 400 reports of scams related to love fraud – 168 reports of romance scams and 235 reports of hybrid scams – reported in January, with the majority of the victims reported to be women in their 40s.

The estimated total damage from these cases came up to approximately 190 million baht (S$7.5 million). THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK