VIRGINIA BEACH, Va . – Police are warning the public of a sexting scam.
They have received reports regarding dating website extortion scams.
Victims said a person on the phone claimed to be from the “Virginia Beach Police Department” and an actual police department number showed up on their caller ID.
The scam starts with a customer being contacted through dating websites by a person wanting to exchange compromising photos.
Once the photos were exchanged, the victim received a phone call from “the police” saying the victim had been illegally exchanging photos with an underage person.
The scammer then tells the victim the juvenile’s parents want to file a police report and gives the victim their number to call.
When victims call the “parents” he/she is told that if they pay money, the parents won’t peruse a criminal investigation.
Police remind the public that they will never solicit funds to “drop charges” and that all criminal investigations will be handled by official personnel.
