Victims of so-called sextortion will not be judged if they report they have been targets, Police Scotland said after a rise in reports of the crime.
Two women who sent explicit images of themselves to men before falsely claiming they were 15 years old narrowly avoided being placed in custody last week.
Caitlin Rattray, 21, and Rocha Lynch, 19, both from Aberdeenshire, raised more than £120,000 after warning their victims they would be exposed as “paedos” if they did not pay up.
Police have now issued advice to individuals who are falling prey to similar scams.
Offenders typically use the promise of sex to solicit naked selfies and compromising videos from men on dating and social media sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Tinder.