A teenager from Somerset is warning others about the dangers of "sextortion" after he was conned out of more than £800 by a hacker.

Jacob, not his real name, was blackmailed into handing over the cash after he was filmed performing explicit acts over webcam for who he thought was a girl he had met online.

It transpired the 16-year-old was actually speaking to a computer hacker who threatened to send the video to all of his Facebook friends unless he stumped up the cash.

Describing the incident, which occurred in his bedroom over the Christmas holidays, Jacob said that he had met the "girl" online, where he was talked into performing lewd acts.

She then asked Jacob for his phone number under the pretence that it would make it easier for them to talk.

After they exchanged messages, he was sent a link to the video that had been recorded over his webcam.

His phone then rang, and upon answering, Jacob realised that it was a man, rather than the girl he thought he had been messaging, on the other end.

He said: “The guy was so aggressive on the phone. He said he was a pro hacker.

“He sent me a list of all my Facebook friends and said ‘I will ruin your life’. My heart was beating out of my chest. I was shaking. I remember looking at myself in my bedroom mirror thinking ‘what have I done, what have I done?

“I went into panic mode and kept thinking about the worst case scenario - all my friends and family and people at school seeing the video and looking at me differently. I just wanted to stop it. I asked him what he wanted.

“I didn’t care about the money, all I could think about was trying to prevent that video getting out. I could earn the money back but I didn’t think I could get my reputation back as easily.

“You hear about this stuff happening but there’s nothing that can prepare you for it. It felt like he was in total control.”

Jacob set up a fake account on a money transfer service and said he immediately transferred £800 to the man.

He then shouted for his older sister, who was downstairs at the time.

He added: “I thought, no matter what happens, I’m going to have to tell my family about this at some point, so I may as well tell them now.”

Jacob’s sister called the police on non-emergency number 101 as well as calling their parents and asking them to come home immediately.

His mum said: “I just walked in and gave him a big hug. We did everything we could - closing down his social media accounts, changing his phone number, and we gave him a stern talking to.

“But he’s suffered enough for his mistake and he’s now working hard to earn that money back.”

Forces across the UK have received more than two thousand reports of sextortion in the last two years, but many cases will go unreported.

Reliving the ordeal, Jacob said: “In lessons at school sometimes it just hits me and I go red and start sweating because I keep replaying it.

“It follows me all the time, wondering if the video has been released.”

Joanne Bocko, cyber protect officer for Avon and Somerset Constabulary, said: “What happened to Jacob is called sextortion.

“It’s where someone uses a sexually explicit image or video of their victim as leverage to blackmail them and to make demands.

“This kind of criminal preys on people’s vulnerabilities. It’s a very cruel crime which can ruin people’s lives.

“That’s why for us, protection and the welfare of the victim is paramount.”

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What can you do to prevent yourselves falling victim to sextortion?

Ms Bocko said: “To prevent this kind of thing happening in the first place, we’d advise not going on webcam with a stranger or giving personal details to someone you don’t know, such as your full name, telephone number or email address.

“And, while we see victims of all ages and genders, in many cases reported to us the victims are men aged 18-29.

“So if you have relatives or friends in this age group, why not tell them about Jacob’s story and warn them of the dangers?”

Other advice to be given to victims includes:

Not to panic:
Call police immediately on 101 and let officers deal with it in confidence.

The police will not make any judgements on your behaviour.

Not to pay: Even if you give money to the person making demands, there may be continued requests for larger amounts of money.

This money will then likely be used to fund the organised crime groups who commit these types of crimes.

Not to communicate any further with the offender:
Get screen shots of communication and keep any evidence which could help the police with their investigation.

Police can help with more specific advice over the phone, once the crime has been reported.
