U.S. supermodel Gigi Hadid, 23, was said to have been blackmailed by hackers who stole images from her Apple iCloud account, but did not pay up

The trend for sharing explicit selfies is fuelling a surge in blackmail, with cases up almost 60 per cent in London in a year.

The head of Scotland Yard’s cyber and economic crime command blamed the increase on the ‘sexploitation phenomenon’.

Detective Chief Superintendent Mick Gallagher said the rise of online dating and the swapping of intimate photographs online had led to scores of people being extorted for cash.

He spoke out after Scotland Yard figures revealed a spike in offences from 1,700 blackmails reported in 2017 to 2,677 in 2018 – a rise of 57 per cent.

DCS Gallagher said even teenagers were committing offences after exploiting other pupils who had shared sexual snaps, adding: ‘Certainly with some of the sexploitation and shaming stuff that goes on, schoolchildren are engaged in that.’

The senior officer revealed intimate photographs and webcam videos texted or shared on social media made up the bulk of blackmail material.

He said several types of blackmail were prevalent, adding: ‘One of them is sexploitation, where invariably young men and women are online and asked to FaceTime the suspect who encourages them to perform sexual acts. It’s all recorded and they are told unless they give them money it’s going to be sent to friends and family.

‘For a long time we believed this was not being reported for many reasons, maybe embarrassment at shaming the family or themselves. But in the last year we have become conscious that more and more of this offending is being reported as the public becomes aware of it.

‘Linked to that are offences – not always blackmail – linked to shaming, where a couple have made an intimate tape together, they split up and the male partner circulates the sex video to friends and family. It’s been around for a while but we are only just seeing it being reported in the last 12 months or so.’

DCS Gallagher said criminal hacking syndicates were also stealing data and compromising images to blackmail internet users. In 2014, celebrities including Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst and Selena Gomez became victims after their Apple iCloud accounts were hacked. He added: ‘The other thing contributing to this, but not in such volume, is hacking syndicates getting into companies and organisations and blackmailing them to get their data back.’

Susan Hall, a Tory member of the London Assembly, blamed Mayor Sadiq Khan and urged him to hire more police, adding: ‘This surge in blackmail has come off the back of Sadiq Khan’s crime epidemic. He has lost control of the streets and created a vicious cycle of heinous crimes. The mayor needs to tackle the root causes.’

A spokesman for Mr Khan said: ‘The mayor and the Met Police are determined to do everything they can to crack down on crime, including blackmail.’

Model's photo hack

Hackers are said to have blackmailed US supermodel Gigi Hadid, threatening to post her private photos online unless she paid a ransom.

They reportedly stole images from the 23-year-old’s Apple iCloud account three years ago, warning that they would sell them to the media.

But the Victoria’s Secret model refused to pay, according to the entertainment website TMZ. It said she contacted the authorities instead and hired private investigators to track them down.