Officers from the National Police arrested five people in Elche who formed a criminal group suspected of extorting minors using social networks.
The investigation began following a complaint filed at the Elche Police Station, where a minor stated that she was being extorted to pay money in exchange for not disseminating sexually explicit photographs of her.
The officers quickly identified the five people, two males and three females, also minors aged between 16 and 17, and of Spanish nationality, who were acting together using social media to extort their victims, all minors.
As for the modus operandi used, it consisted of gaining the trust of its victims, boys and girls, through a well-known social network by creating false profiles. Once they gained their full trust, they requested images of a sexual nature from their victims and, after obtaining compromising images of them, they began to extort them by contacting them through the same social network to request money in exchange for not spreading them.
All the detainees were released with charges pending after appearing at police stations, awaiting appearance before the Judicial Authority.
If you are a parent who is concerned about this sort of behaviour on the internet, the Police have collaborated with a website that offers advice and information about staying safe online. You can check it out yourself, and point your children to http://www.ciberexperto.org/, where incidents can also be reported.
