Hampshire residents are being conned into thinking they have been recorded watching porn

A number of people across the county have been targeted by the con.

Victims are told they have been filmed through their computer while watching pornography. The scammer asks for a large sum of money '“ in the form of digital currency known as bit coin '“ to prevent the video from being released.

The scam is made more plausible as the victim receives an email quoting their password '“ one that is likely to have been obtained through historic data breaches. Hampshire police said this was all a con, adding: '˜The scammer has not been able to access your computer files and has not taken footage of your actions.'