Washington woman jailed after having Tinder hookups and extorting men for 'abortion money'

A woman has been jailed after extorting men she met from online dating sites for more than $300,000 (£229,148).

Seul Ki Yum, of Olympia in Washington, spent three years picking out her targets on Tinder, OK Cupid and Seeking Arrangements before blackmailing them to pay for rent, laptops and designer handbags.

The 26-year-old would tell the men she slept with that she had become pregnant and demanded that they paid for purported abortions or she would expose them to family members and future partners.

In one instance, Yum acquired a naked image of one of her victims and sent it to his future girlfriend and wife-to-be when the man failed to pay the demanded sum.

In another, after meeting a married California wine dealer, Yum received $10,000 a month from the victim for over two years so that she would not tell his wife.

After one of her seven victims approached the police, the FBI arranged for the man to wear a wire to record their conversation during an exchange for $5,000, which eventually led to Yum's arrest.

She pleaded guilty to five counts of extortion in June and appeared for sentencing in King County Superior Court in downtown Seattle on Friday (14 July).

Yum faced the prospect of a lengthy period behind bars, but prosecutors agreed to an "exceptionally low" sentence of 30 days imprisonment given it was her first offence, her remorse and her cooperation with police authorities in their investigation.

"I am very ashamed and very embarrassed of my behaviour," she told Judge Lori K Smith, reported the Seattle Pi.

"I would give anything back to have a normal life."