Over 102 UAE youth have fallen prey to sexual and financial extortion on social media in the past eight months.

Luckily for the naive victims, the Umm Al Quwaim Police department (UAQ) has managed to assist the 70 women and 32 men who were lured in by the charlatans on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

"These included a doctor whom they convinced to tell private details about himself and post indecent pictures of him on social media," sources with the UAQ police said.

Meanwhile, female victims were tricked into giving out their private details and sending indecent photos when the cons claimed to have a job in store for them, or by offering them a marriage proposal.

"They then threatened to defame them and post their photos if they refused to pay certain amounts of money," the sources added.

The victims, aged between 20-25, reported the incidents to “Etmaen” (Rest Assured), a totally anonymous service launched by UAQ in November 2016.

The special service, available round the clock in Arabic and English to protect vulnerable members of society against organised crimes and blackmail, is reachable at (050-9990855) or ([email protected]).

In an attempt to combat this life-altering problem, Etmaen have organized a number of lectures at schools, private and governmental entities to raise public awareness about the risks of talking to strangers on social media.