MORE victims have come forward of a blackmail scam that appears to have been sweeping through North Yorkshire.

Earlier this month it emerged that a woman calling herself Cathy Wong had enticed three men into performing an indecent act which she recorded on video.

First she would befriend them on Facebook then ask them to Skype her and after recording the video told the victims her grandmother was ill and asked them each to send £3,000 via money transfer.

Now three more victims have come forward, making a total of six in North Yorkshire – particularly Whitby, York and Selby.

In the most recent case, a woman called Ling Cheung befriended the victim, a man from York, who reported the offence to the police this week.

Detectives are exploring the possibility that the scam is operated by an organised crime group and any number of false names could be used.

They have again warned the public, in particular students, to be on their guard and not to befriend anyone on the internet who they do not know or pass intimate photos or videos of themselves to anyone.

Acting Detective Sergeant Matthew Wilkinson said: “We can’t emphasise strongly enough how important internet safety is. Please don’t leave yourself vulnerable to online criminals.

“The victims in these cases have been left extremely distressed by what’s happened to them and I urge everyone using social media to be on their guard and to please be careful when it comes to sharing images.

“Not only can criminals use the images to blackmail you, but once they have been uploaded to the internet, they are virtually impossible to remove.”

Anyone affected can phone North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option one and pass information to the force control room.