A 21-year-old male who was charged in February 2023 with four counts of extortion is facing an additional six counts after police linked him to additional sextortion cases in Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario and Prince Edward Island.

Winnipeg Police Service say that they began an investigation after a man in his 20s reported that he was a victim of sextortion after he shared intimate images of himself with an unknown person posing as a young woman. Once that suspect received the images the victim was threatened that the images would be posted online unless he sent money. The victim e-transferred money to the suspect and did not hear back from the suspect again.

The investigation revealed three additional victims and the suspect, Tongun Justin Tongun, of Winnipeg was arrested and charged.

The investigation continued and with help from Cybertip.ca, RCMP, York Regional Police Service, Hamilton Police Service and Halton Police Service, six more male victims were identified.

Police believe that the crimes may have an international connection as the money was transferred overseas.

Tongun was released on an Undertaking as mandated by the Criminal Code of Canada.

Cybertip.ca has reported that in the past 12 months they have received more than 3,400 reports of children and young adults being targeted in crimes like these and sextorted while using online social media platforms.

© News4.ca 2023