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University of Michigan police issue sextortion warning for students

Posted at 6:31 PM, Nov 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-16 19:14:24-05

University of Michigan police are issuing a warning after 2 students reported they were victims of sextortion attempts. They don't know if both of the cases are connected, but say one of the threats was made on November 12 and the other on November 14. 

According to investigators, both started with Facebook friend requests from someone not known to the students.

That escalated into online chatting and videotaping, but in a matter of hours, that new "friendship" turned into a demand for money in exchange for not publishing the students' explicit pictures or videos online.

Investigators say anyone who thinks they may be a victim of such an extortion attempt should call them right away.

They say potential victims should stop communicating with the criminals. Suspend your Facebook account and do NOT pay anything.

Police say don't delete any correspondence, take screenshots of it.

Police say this should serve as a reminder to never share compromising pictures or videos with anyone, no matter who they say they are.

The university's department of public safety says its computer forensics experts are investigating the threats.