Facebook users, consider yourself warned: New ‘friends’ may be dangerous

Police want you to think twice about adding strangers as ‘friends’ on Facebook, especially if they are of the opposite gender.

This warning comes after a number of people told authorities they were being blackmailed by new Facebook friends that had requested to chat with them over video.

Once the user agreed to a video chat, they were encouraged to continue the conversation on Skype. On Skype, the person would engage the user in sexual conversation and encouraged them to appear nude on screen. In several reported incidences, all the footage was recorded without the user’s consent, Halton Regional Police said in a news release Friday. 

After the chat ended, users were extorted for money and told if they didn’t pay up, the footage would be shared on their friends’ walls and on YouTube.

Facebook users are urged to protect themselves by being more cautious when screening friend requests and report any accounts that ask to video chat and/or begin sexual conversation directly after being added.