Two 12-year-old boys were among the 61 Hong Kong residents who lost more than HK$1.7 million (US$218,110) last week after falling victim to a “sextortion” scam in which they were blackmailed with video footage showing them naked.

Police released details on their CyberDefender Facebook page on Friday, saying the victims met the scammers through dating apps.

“They were lured into naked online video chats where the scammers recorded videos of the victims,” ​​police said. “The scammers then threatened to make these videos public if the victims did not pay them money.”

In this crime, the blackmailers – usually women – typically undress in front of the webcam to entice their victims to do the same.

They then secretly record their victims and threaten to spread the video on the Internet or distribute it to the person’s relatives or friends if they do not pay.

According to police, there were 61 reports of such extortion last week, resulting in losses of more than HK$1.7 million.

“Among them, the youngest victims were two 12-year-old secondary school students who the scammers met through the same dating app,” police said.

According to police, sextortion not only causes financial loss and emotional damage, but the recorded videos can also remain online and have lasting effects.

Police urged parents to be aware of their children’s online social circles and remind them to remain clothed during video chats and avoid conversations of a sexual nature.

In the first quarter of this year, police processed 479 reports of fraud related to nude chats, resulting in financial losses of HK$12.7 million.

Sextortion cases rose 50 percent to 2,117 last year, up from 1,402 the year before, while the amount of money victims lost doubled from HK$22 million in 2022 to HK$44 million in 2023.