ESSEX Police has shared information to young people and vulnerable internet users who may have been on the end of an attempted scam.

Because of lockdown many people have been using the internet a lot more than normal and may be unused to some of the ways criminals may try to exploit that.

The force says there have been reports of children and young people being lured into sending indecent images of themselves and then blackmailed to send further pictures or transfer money.

And other internet users are getting targeted at random by emails which allege to have been spying on their internet usage and have produced a password to 'prove' it.

Sextortion scams are a type of phishing attack whereby people are coerced to pay a BitCoin ransom because they have been threatened with sharing video of themselves visiting adult websites.

These scams are made to appear all the more credible because they provide seemingly plausible technical details about how this was achieved, and the phish can sometimes also include the individual's password.

Phishes are designed to play on people's emotions so that they will behave in a way which is out of character, and scams such as this are no different.

The phisher is gambling that enough people will respond so that their scam is profitable; they do not know if you have a webcam, have been visiting adult websites, or the means by which you communicate with people – in short, they are guessing. The phisher hopes to emotionally trigger people so that they will 'take the bait' and pay the ransom.

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Police say, as with other phishes, their advice is not to engage with the phisher, delete the email and report it to here.

Do not be tempted to pay the BitCoin ransom, doing so will likely encourage more scams as the phisher will know they have a 'willing' customer.

Do not worry if the phish includes your password; in all likelihood this has been obtained from historic breaches of personal data. You can check if your account has been compromised and get future notifications here.

If the phish includes a password you still use then change it immediately, advice on how to create suitable passwords and enable other factors of authentication is available from Cyber Aware.

If you have been a victim of a sextortion scam and have paid the BitCoin ransom, then report it to Essex police force by calling 101. They will respect your privacy.

If you need emotional support this is available from charities such as Victim Support by calling 0808 168 9111 or clicking here.