James City County Police are warning residents about scams on adult websites after an internet user sent sexually explicit photos to a local man, then blackmailed him for $500.
On April 8, a man reported to police he had been messaging a girl for several days on Adultfriendfinder.com and they had exchanged sexually explicit photos, according to police spokeswoman Stephanie Williams.
AdultFriendFinder is a website to “help find partners for dating, romance, friendship, and a variety of encounters,” according to the site’s general information page.
The girl she was 18 years old, Williams said.
A couple days after the man started messaging the girl, he received a call from a person claiming to be the girl’s father.
The caller said the girl was only 16 years old, and threatened to file charges unless the man sent $500 to him immediately.
The caller told the man to put the $500 on a MoneyPak card, Williams said.
According to Williams, the incident is a known scam. The man did not send any money to the scammer.
“Scammers use many different ploys in an attempt to obtain money from unsuspecting victims,” Williams wrote in an email. “Many online sites, such as dating sites, allow scammers the anonymity they need to reach out to numerous potential victims. Citizens should use caution when making contact with people online when there is no way to confirm the identity (or age) of the person on the other end.”
