MORE than 9,400 phishing emails linked to sextortion were reported last month with just over 200 reports made to Action Fraud in the last week.

A sextortion phishing scam, first identified by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) in July 2018, continues to be reported to Action Fraud in high numbers.

So far this month, Action Fraud has received 9,473 reports of this email scam.

Sextortion scams are a type of phishing attack whereby people are coerced to pay a 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

The emails contain the victim’s own password in the subject line and demand a payment in Bitcoin to prevent videos of the victim, on their computer visiting adult websites, being shared.

An example email reads: “It Seems that, XXXXXX, is your password.

"I require your complete attention for the upcoming 24 hrs, or I may make sure you that you live out of guilt for the rest of your lifetime.

"Hey, you do not know me personally. However I know all the things concerning you. Your present fb contact list, mobile phone contacts along with all the digital activity in your computer from past 176 days."

The fraudsters can also claim to have video footage of the victim.

Head of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith said: “Sextortion scams are a type of phishing attack where people are coerced to pay a ransom, normally in Bitcoin. The messages can look particularly convincing because they often include the recipient’s genuine password.

“The criminals sending these emails are ruthless, unscrupulous individuals who don’t care about the impact of their actions on victims. They seek to exploit people’s emotions - shaming and scaring the recipient enough, that they make a payment.

“If you receive an email that threatens you, your family, or your property in any way, and asks you to make a Bitcoin payment, don’t take the bait.”

The advice from Action Fraud is not to reply to the email or click on any links contained within it. Instead, report it to: report@phishing.gov.uk and then delete it.

Do not be tempted to make the Bitcoin payment. Doing so may encourage the criminal to contact you again for more money.

Call the police and report it to report@phishing.gov.uk.

For more information, visit: actionfraud.police.uk/sextortion