LANSING, Mich. — Imagine the reaction from friends and family if a fake pornographic video of you showed up online.
Scammers tried to use that tactic to get thousands of dollars out of a Mid-Michigan man.
Dan Dembinksi has been a HAM Radio enthusiast for almost ten years.
"It's a great hobby...you make a lot of friends,” he says. “We assist police and monitor traffic trends...we also help in times of emergency."
But he never though his hobby would turn on him.
"I befriended someone that was a HAM Radio operator...at least they portrayed themselves as one," said Dembinski.
It wasn't long before his new "friend" tried to blackmail him on Facebook.
"They said that they had a lewd act or something that you wouldn't want public."
The scammer showed Dembinski a video of someone perfoming a sex act with his face edited onto it.
Then they told Dembinski they'd post it to YouTube unless he paid them a large amount of money.
"I was disgusted and shocked," Dembinski told FOX 47 News.
Dembinski says he immediately called the police. They told him not to pay the person and delete them on Facebook.
"Nothing like that has happened..it just scares you," Dembinski said. "They want to find the one person that's gullible enough to say 'yeah, I'll help you cash the check.' If they can blackmail you or extort you, that's what they'll do to get the money."
He says he's thinking about deleting his social media accounts but has some advice for people who won’t.
"Be careful with who you friend. Unless you know them, don't friend them."
He says he now uses two-factor authentication – a tool recommended for use by USA.gov.
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