(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City police say there’s been an increase in reports of scams involving online threats, and some people have fallen for them. Sergeant Tom Gill says they’ve had at least ten reports in the last several weeks. “Which means that that number is probably well above ten, because most people don’t report it for one reason or another, whether they’re embarrassed if they fell for the scam, which is probably why they don’t report it,” he says. Gill says the warning is the same for all types of scams, don’t fall to the pressure.

“Anytime you get a phone call somebody wanting you to give money over the phone or wire it through Western Union or put it on iTunes cards, it’s 100 percent a scam,” Gill says. “Don’t fall for it. A lot of times you’ll get text messages now saying that, hey, we’ve observed your social media activity, and we know you’ve been on all these different sites, and we’re going to make it public. Unless you pay us this money, don’t fall for it. It’s a scam.” Many scams are targeted at older people, but Gill says they are also now targeting young people as well.

“There’s so many different apps now, and it’s scary, especially for young kids, teenagers, they find out about these apps, and they’ll get on these apps, and then all of a sudden, next thing you know, they’re going to ask for a picture of them in the nude,” he says. “And sometimes those pictures get sent, and we advise never send a picture, especially a nude picture, to someone, because that never goes away. And then all of a sudden, they’ll try to blackmail that individual, saying we’re going to send this out to your family, your friends. We’re going to put it all over social media, unless you pay us X amount of money.”

Some of the scammers make vicious threats that include saying they are going to harm you. Gill says you should let police know if someone tries to scam you. “By all means, report this, because we want to know about the new scams that are going on and to alert the public not to fall for them,” Gill says. “But just understand, if you send money, whether you wire it through Western Union or pay for gift cards, you’re out that money.” Gill says report it even if you fall for the scam, because it may help prevent someone else from being a victim.