Actor blackmailed over masturbation film

A 26-year-old man has been charged with blackmail after threatening to make public a film of a famous Swedish actor masturbating, unless paid a substantial amount of money.

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The Swedish actor, based in Stockholm, made contact with a woman called “Linda” on the internet in 2008. After chatting to her regularly online, they struck up what the actor perceived as a close friendship.

At one point the actor consented to lending “Linda” 4,000 kronor ($583) when she claimed to be in need of financial help, according to local paper Dalarnas Tidningar (DT).

The woman eventually suggested posing in a sexual manner for the actor via a web camera, an offer he readily accepted. She also managed to persuade him to do the same.

What the actor didn't know was that “Linda” was a 26-year-old man from Borlänge, in central Sweden.

As soon as he had recorded himself carrying out the act of self-gratification, the 26-year-old used the footage to blackmail the actor.

“She threatened to ruin my career,” said the actor when questioned by the police, reported DT.

According to the internet contact that ensued between the two after the incident, “Linda” knew exactly who the actor was and he threatened to show the film both to the media and to the man's wife, reported DT.

“Linda” wanted 14,000 kronor to keep the film under wraps, but the actor managed to haggle the price down to 10,000 kronor.

The actor deposited the money in the indicated bank account, but then went straight to the police and reported the incident.

It turned out that the 26-year-old had been working his scam on the net for several years. In total he has been charged with nine cases of fraud, committed between 2008 and 2011.

In several of the cases, the Borlänge-man has posed as a sexy woman online tricking unsuspecting men into giving him money.

He often persuaded the men to give him their bank details, allowing him to access their accounts and transferring money to his own account.

In order to fool the men, the 26-year-old used several different names and used a picture of a woman which he published on the internet. When speaking to the men over the phone he disguised his voice.

At one point, he tricked a man from southern Sweden to make deposits of about 22,000 kronor into his account.

According to the charge sheet, the "woman" had been promising sexual relations with the man, but said she needed money to visit him.

However, despite the money he spent, the woman never turned up. Instead “she” texted him from Spain saying she was eating lobster and sipping champagne.

In total, the 26-year-old managed to get his hands on 93,000 kronor, according to the paper.