One victim, from Londonderry, told the BBC that
blackmailers had demanded £10,000 not to
reveal an intimate video on Facebook.
He described two months of "hell" after being
tricked into making the recording by a woman he
met online.
Det Ch Insp James Mullan praised the man for
coming forward to warn others.
"We get about two or three reports a week
across Northern Ireland of predominantly male
people within the community who become
victims of this type of incident," he said.
"I want to give people the confidence to come
forward to the police and report it," he said.
"While we find it very difficult to get the people
responsible, it's really important that, not just
the police service, but other agencies are there
to support these people."
Most of the scams originate in countries such as
Philippines and Morocco, Mr Mullan added.
'Lived through hell'
Christopher (not his real name) told the Mark
Patterson Show how he received a friend request
from a "very attractive young lady" on Facebook.
"Over a period of a few days we were chatting.
She was a lot younger than I was. I'm in my 40s,
she was, maybe, in her 20s.
"I was going through a bitter divorce at the time
and you know... I was enjoying the attention,
looking for a new relationship," he said.
"Over a period of time, it progressed to another
level where she asked me did I want a video
chat and the conversation became quite sexual.
"She got me on my phone through messenger
and asked: 'Do you want to see me naked?'
"I put on video call, and all of a sudden I see a
bedroom, and a girl naked, touching herself,
caressing herself - she asked me to do the same
thing.
"Then all of a sudden she left the camera and
came back and she seemed to push some sort
of a button, and all of a sudden it was a video of
me doing what I shouldn't.
"She says: 'You've just broken the law, if you
don't send £10,000 it (the video) will be posted
to various friends.'"
One of the names that appeared on
Christopher's device was the name of his
daughter.
"I went into total panic, total panic and talk
about cold sweats," he said.
The blackmailer managed to post the video onto
Christopher's Facebook timeline, but he was able
to swiftly remove it.
PSNI advice on how to protect yourself online
Do not compromise your identity by
removing clothes or performing intimate acts
online.
What goes online may stay online, be wary
about accepting friend invitations on social
networking sites.
Do not include any sensitive, private or
confidential information on your profile.
Update your privacy settings.
'I was devastated'
Christopher was given 24 hours to send his
blackmailer the money.
During this time, he described how feelings of
shame, disgust and most of all fear, nearly drove
him over the edge.
In the end, Christopher reported the person to
Facebook, and said the company was very
supportive.
He also spoke to the Samaritans before
confiding in two close friends, who accompanied
him to the local police station.
"That constable was absolutely brilliant, she saw
the stress I was under, she said 'you've broken
no law'," he said.
He explained that the police wanted to trace the
IP address of the computer being used by the
blackmailer.
"The case is now closed, they never found out,
but I went through hell for two months," he said.
Although still living under the threat of his video
being released, Christopher said he felt good.
"If I could just use my pain and anxiety to help
just one person, then to be honest, I feel quite
proud that I've done something. That I took a
stand you know," he said.