'I was blackmailed over nude photos I sent on Grindr - and I'm not alone'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A socialite has opened up about being blackmailed on LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr.

The man received threats that his nude pictures would be sent to his workmates and family unless he paid up £50.

Charley Jarrett, of Streatham, uses Grindr for 'casual hook-ups'.

While the 34-year-old's experiences have mainly been positive, he found himself a victim of a blackmailing sting in 2018 - and is now calling for tech firms to step up their safeguarding processes.

He said the conversation between the match began fairly conventionally.

“He said he was interested in coming over,” Charley told MyLondon.

They exchanged nude pictures - which is common on the app. Last year alone, 82 million expiring photos were sent on Grindr.

Charley said: “He thought he recognised me, so he asked for my phone number to chat on WhatsApp. ‘Fine, it’s easier to chat there,’ I thought. We chatted more, and he asked to look me up on Facebook.”

Grindr users usually have their full names hidden, but people can choose to give out their names if they wish, which Charley did.

Then the man on the other end went quiet for half an hour.

Charley then received a message that said: “Can you lend me £50?” before a terrifying threat.

“I said I was a bit broke, so no,” Charley explained. “He then said well ‘how about if you give me £50, I won’t send all your naked pics to all your Facebook friends.

“I googled what to do and it said, 'if it’s happening right now, call 999'. I went through to the police, the lady on the phone was lovely. She said either ignore him, say you’ve called the police, or block him.”

Charley chose to ignore him and the blackmailer lost interest.

The next day, Charley got a visit from a local officer who took his statement as expected. Then they