Spokesman of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention (Haia) Turki Al-Sholail said its Jeddah branch has received 200 blackmail complaints from women in the last two months.

A number of people gave their views on this disturbing phenomenon.

Sarah Jehtai said the major weapon used by a blackmailer against his victim is the threat to publicize some material harmful to the victim which he obtains through interaction with her on social networking sites.

Samirah Saeed believed that blackmailing is the result of some personality disorder of the criminal possibly caused by faulty education combined with a lack of moral values. She said that girls fell in the trap of a blackmailer because they trust strangers and share photos on the Internet with unknown men being clueless about the risks.

Samirah urged girls to be more careful when using modern cell phones which save huge amounts of information even after they have been deleted. She also stressed the need for intense awareness drives on social networking sites and conventional media about the consequences of supplying personal details and photos on the Web.

“Girls, especially adolescents are more susceptible to blackmail because they are unaware of the consequences,” said Muhammad Awad, adding that it is their guardian’s duty to steer their wards from suspicious practices.

Hussain Bajubair attributed the increasing incidents of blackmail to excessive trust which some people develop in their daily interactions and also to the female tendency to believe in false expressions of love. He stressed the need to educate society about the treacherous consequences of cyber crimes especially to those who are not skilled in the use of modern electronic devices.

Psychologist Abdo Yasin attributed the tendency of blackmail in some men to an antisocial personality disorder called psychopathy, which is characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse accompanied by abnormal violence, quick-temper and carelessness about consequences.

Girls with low self esteem are an ideal prey for these psychopaths, he said, adding that blackmailers should be meted out harsh punishments.