RIDGE Meadows RCMP are warning residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows of an ongoing extortion scam after receiving five reports in a three days.

In the scam, a person claims to have acquired compromising pictures / videos of the victim and threaten to send them to their friends and family unless they send money to a Bitcoin wallet.

The scam starts with the suspect sending an email or letter in the mail to the victim stating that they have been looking at adult content online and that malware has captured compromising photos of the victims doing so.

The suspect then provides a photo of the victim’s house (google street image) along with other personal details proving that they know where the victim lives. The suspect demands a $2,000 payment to be made immediately via Bitcoin wallet or else they will release the photos to their family and friends.

Police said that thankfully in all of the six reported cases, the victims did not comply with the demands and called police immediately.

“We are asking residents to exercise caution to avoid falling victim to this scam and report these scams through our online crime reporting tool, or by calling non-emergency,” said the RCMP.