A 25-year-old Arnold woman told authorities a man she met through a Canadian dating app allegedly threatened to release nude and seminude photos she sent him unless she paid him $500. Arnold Police Cpl. Brett Ackermann said the woman did not pay the ransom, and as of May 13, the photos had not been posted online or shared with anyone the woman knows.
The woman reported the alleged blackmail scheme on May 4. She reportedly was using the Cyber Blackmail 911 online resource to further investigate the incident, Ackermann said.
The woman told police she had met the man in March through a dating app called “Plenty of Fish,” and he claimed to be a member of the U.S. military who was stationed in Florida. The online dating service primarily is used in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Brazil and the U.S., according to the company’s website.
The woman said she used the app to communicate with the man for about two months before they stopped talking to each other. Then he reached out to her through the app and threatened to send the nude photos to her family members and friends, Arnold Police reported.
“I know this isn’t the first one, but it is not something that happens all of the time,” Ackermann said. “People can get into online relationships, and when they really don’t know the other person, sending pictures is a bad idea.”