Unsuspecting Malaysians continue to be victims of cyber blackmail, with some being threatened to have their nude photos or compromising videos released online if they do not pay up, sometimes by as high as US$5,000 (S$6500).
Besides the usual scams over Skype, Trojan horse viruses are now used to gain remote control of computers or webcams, hoping to catch victims naked.
According to the police's cyber and multimedia investigation division, cases now number in the hundreds.
"There is definitely an increase in such cases," said Insp Mohd Riduan bin Abd Majid (pic).
He said while police had no statistics due to many victims not coming forward due to shame, the increase was because syndicates behind such crimes were getting savvier.
"Now, they check out your profile before targeting you.
"If you have a lot of information on your social media page, such as where you work, your list of friends or real name, it becomes easier to intimidate you.
"We believe that these syndicates are from outside Malaysia, particularly the Philippines."
His advice to victims is to never give in to demands for money.