The Pine County Sheriff's Office is reporting that they have received an increase in calls related to what Sheriff Jeff Nelson calls "sextortion."
According to Sheriff Nelson, the victims met these people through the internet and began a relationship where these individuals were able to talk the victims into sending nude photos to them.
Once the pictures were received, the victims got a message demanding money from the sender or have the photo's sent to their friends and family. One even demanded as much as $75,000.
There are laws against extortion and sharing nude pictures with other people, but Sheriff Nelson told WCMP that once the photos are sent that it is exceptionally difficult for authorities to track down these individuals.
"It really is hard for us to follow that up, and once we do, the damage has been done if they do send those [pictures] out," said Sheriff Nelson.
You can listen to Pine County Sheriff Jeff Nelson discuss this story below.
