The Scottsdale Police Department wants to prevent individuals from falling prey to “sextortion.”

The department has provided advice on how to avoid being a victim of the practice, which it defines as “blackmail or coercion with the purpose of extorting sexually explicit images, messages, money or sexual favors from another person online.”

In order to blackmail effectively, authorities said, the perpetrator uses personal information or compromising images that the victim has previously sent to them or that they have found themselves, through hacking or the victim previously sharing content online.

The perpetrator then threatens to send these images or messages to the friends, family, school or workplace of the victim unless they share further sexual content or transfer money to them.

Tips to avoid sextortion:

• Stop all interaction with the extortionist and do not be embarrassed or afraid to contact law enforcement.
• If a profile seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• If a profile has zero posts, it is a sign of a fraudulent account.
• Never send sexually explicit pictures of yourself to anyone, no matter who they are or who they say they are. Never send anything in return when you are sent explicit images.
• Check privacy settings, set it to private and limit the information you share.
• Be aware of friends' lists. Don’t accept friend requests from anyone you do not know.
• Do not provide any details about your life, address, school, family or friends as perpetrators will use this information later while trying to extort.
• Save the evidence to aid in prosecution and contact the police. In Scottsdale, call  480-312-5000.