Tips to prevent sextortion

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima gave some tips yesterday to prevent people from being victimized by sextortion groups on the Internet.

• Be aware that video and voice calls on the Internet can be recorded.

• Be cautious about people you meet online. Revealing personal details is extremely risky because there are a lot of fake accounts online.

• Scammers often seek soft targets so they move on if you do not respond. Just block their emails and their accounts and cease all contact with the scammer.

• If you ever encounter this kind of scam, save the scammer’s details, emails, comment threads or any other evidence you have of them and the extortion attempt.

• Call the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group hotline 414-1560 or send an email through the website acg.pnp.gov.ph.