The traditional sextortion method is a simple one: scammers create fake social networking accounts, and engage strangers in conversations.

These progress to video chats (Skype in many cases) and the attackers convince their victims to engage in cybersex – which is then recorded and used against them.

The result is that, rather than being someone that defies all calculation, love is now big business worth an annual billion internationally and growing at 70 per cent a year – with high-tech venture capitalists, psychologists and software engineers reaping vast rewards.

Academics, meanwhile, are fascinated by the data being gathered — and largely kept secret — by the dating industry.

Try having an honest conversation with the person you sent the image to. Getting help The sooner you talk to somebody about the situation the better.

This could be your mum, dad, carer or a school teacher.

Only yesterday, a court heard how a group of women using were allegedly conned out of £220,000 by a gang posing as ‘attractive middle-aged men’.

“But the men I was introduced to were told what I wanted and shared those dreams. From the off we were on the same page and then it was only a matter of finding someone I also found physically attractive and that was Mark, the third man I met.” Wilkinson is far from alone.

Your school will have ways of dealing with these sorts of problems and can confiscate mobiles if they believe they have sexual images on them.

If you know that an indecent or nude pic of you or a friend has been posted online, you can contact the website, such as Facebook or You Tube, to have it removed.

Much of this remains the same, of course, but as well as enticing their victims into video chats, the criminals convince them to download a supposed-fix for an audio issue, which is, in fact, malware.

Android is a particular target, but jailbroken i Phones are also vulnerable.