ONE incident of "sextortion" is reported to Dorset Police every day on average, it has been revealed.

Sextortion – an act of blackmail following online acts of intimacy involving pictures or video – first began to emerge in the county around six months ago when police warned the public of such incidents as well as revenge porn cases.

Since then Dorset Police have been inundated with similar reports – averaging one every day – from teenagers as well as from adults.

One of the youngest victims to have reported an incident of sextortion was reportedly in their early teens.

The police have said that in 90 per cent of cases those targeted are young men, and the initial contact is often made through dating websites.

One such incident involved a 20-year-old man from Bournemouth who received a friend request on Facebook from someone, claiming to be a woman living on the south coast.

The victim accepted the request and began communicating via the social media site before then communicating on Skype.

He believed he was speaking to a female, via webcam, who appeared to be carrying out sexual acts online, which he then reciprocated.

At no time did he see the woman's face.

But the events took a sinister turn when the offender revealed they wished to "ruin the victim's life" and demanded he hand over a large sum of money via a money transfer agency.

It is not known how much money was demanded.

The offender then told the 20-year-old that, as they were friends on Facebook, they had access to his contacts – including family and friends – and the video clip would be shared with them unless the money was paid.

Investigations revealed the offender was overseas and Facebook acted quickly to Dorset Police’s request and blocked the profile used by the offender.

Detective sergeant Tim Farrell, of Dorset Police’s cybercrime unit, said: "Unfortunately the video clip and images have now been captured by the offender and they may feature again on another social media platform as the offender continues to try and extort money from the victim.

"Dorset Police’s advice is very straightforward and centres around the principle: if you wouldn’t do it in person, don’t do it online.

"You wouldn’t talk to a stranger in the street who has their face obscured so why do you accept communication online from someone you can’t see?

"Tightening the privacy settings on your social media accounts will also significantly reduce the risk of people being targeted by this and many other similar forms of cyber criminality."