The police Cyber Crime Unit last year received 12 reports of abuse, of which nine involved blackmail, Police Inspector Timothy Zammit told TimesTalk today during a discussion on the dangers of Facebook and other social networks.

The programme was motivated by recent concerns over how selfie photos of naked women had been widely circulated without the authorisation of the subjects.

Mr Zammit said that of the cases reported last year, two involved child abuse.

Nine cases involved people who had been chatting through webcam on dating sites or other social networks. They were persuaded to expose themselves or perform sexual acts and then they were threatened to either hand over money or their photos would be circulated.

The police investigations revealed that the blackmail was made by persons abroad. The unauthorised uploading and circulation of selfies was made locally.