SURREY RCMP on Friday became the latest police force to warn residents about a recent uptick to a familiar extortion scam after receiving 29 reports in three days.

(North Vancouver RCMP and Ridge Meadows RCMP have already issued a similar warning.)

In one of the scams, perpetrators claim to have acquired compromising pictures of the victim and threaten to share them with their friends and family if they do not send money to a Bitcoin wallet. In another scam, one suspect claims to have the victim’s browsing history on the internet. The suspect claims that the victim accessed pornographic sites and threatens to expose them to their family and friends.

The scam starts with the suspect sending an email 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 along with their name and date of birth as proof that they know where the victim lives. The suspect then demands a $2,000 payment to be made immediately via Bitcoin wallet or else they will release the photos to family and friends.

“Surrey RCMP conducts pro-active education on scams and frauds regularly to the community and it has definitely helped as none of the victim who filed the police report gave into the threats. We want the community to be vigilant and call police if they receive this type of emails, texts or calls,” says Cpl. Sarbjit K. Sangha, Media Relations Officer for Surrey RCMP.