A “CALLOUS and calculating” woman scammed and blackmailed married men out of more than £30,000 using a fake profile on a highly controversial dating website.

Shannon Lee lured men into sexual conversations using pictures of other women stolen from the internet – a scam known as “catfishing”.

Once the men were hooked into “embarrassing” conversations, the 21-year-old threatened to expose them to their wives, family members or friends if they failed to meet her demands.

In total, police found payments of more than £100,000 in Lee’s account – including £40,000 from one man alone.

Lee, of Queens View, Netley Abbey, was jailed 32 months by Judge Peter Henry, who described her as actions as “cold, callous and vindictive”.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Lee would contact the men through controversial dating website, SeekingArrangement.com.

The American members-only site is centred around “sugar daddies and sugar babies” – a type of relationship, often started and maintained over the internet, for the financial benefit of the sugar babies.

Daily Echo:

The website describes itself as a place where “beautiful, successful people fuel mutually beneficial relationships" and has more than two million so-called sugar babies.

The court heard, Lee, using the name of “Sophie” and pictures of a women which she had stolen from the internet, would strike up a friendly conversation with her targets.

She would then request a fee from the men to continue the chat, something prosecutor Jane Terry described as “common practice” on SeekingArrangement.

Ms Terry said Lee would later move the conversation on to encrypted mobile messaging application Whatsapp – on which messages can only been seen by the sender and receiver.

Ms Terry said: “She began engaging in sexual conversation via Whatsapp, before demanding money from her victims.

“If she didn’t receive the money, she said she would disclose the messages to family or friends.”

The court heard Lee would send menacing messages to her victims in order to pressure them to pay up including one with the phrase “tick-tock, times is almost up.”

When one victim tried to negotiate a lower the price, claiming he could not pay, Lee replied: “I’m not bartering with you. I don’t want to have to do it (expose you), but I will, believe me.”

One victim, who was targeted by Lee for almost two years from 2016 to 2018, paid more than £40,000 into her account.

Ms Terry said the victim was subjected to both “begging and cajoling” by Lee, who used both threats and “sob stories”.

On one occasion, the pair arranged to meet at the De Vere Hotel in Portsmouth – a trip paid for by her victim.

Ms Terry said Lee turned up at the hotel and watched her victim enter and leave, without making contact with him.

Lee was later brought to the attention of the authorities after one of her victims, a foreign student in the UK, came forward to police to report himself as a victim of blackmail.

Lee, who gave her personal bank details to her victims, was then investigated by police, who identified and contact a further five victims.

Lee gave a no comment interview to police, but later pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and six counts of blackmail.

Ms Terry said the money gained by fraud amounted to more than £28,000 she had conned out of one of her victims through her “sob stories”.

The six counts of blackmail related to more than £3,800 she demanded from her victims, of which they had paid £2,500.

Ms Terry added that total payments of £100,000 were found in her account during the police investigation.

In mitigation, Berenice Mulvanny said Lee was a teenager when her offending began and she had been “depressed, anxious and lacking guidance”.

She added that jobless Lee was “deeply remorseful” and “bitterly regretted” her actions.

Sentencing Lee, Judge Peter Henry said: “You got these men to engage in sexual conversations, which at the very least would be embarrassing to them or their families members and friends.

“You said you would expose these men in an embarrassing way.

“You were putting pressure on those men to come up with money and you were cajoling them.

He added: “Blackmailing is an extremely serious and nasty offence.

“You were being cold and calculating and became vindictive.

“You told the probation service that when you were doing this you were enjoying the thrill of putting pressure on these men.

“You admitted you were being greedy and excited when you were scamming these people.

“You were controlling these men, that’s why this is a very serious offence.”

Lee will serve half of her sentence before she is allowed out on licence.

Here are some of the messages Shannon Lee sent...

Lee: Show me you’re a decent human being, get the transfer done and then I MIGHT discuss things further and give you that information but until then the threat stands in place. I’ll not reply now. I’ve told you how things will happen. You’ve got until 11.22pm.

Lee: It doesn’t matter who. I’ve told you enough. I don’t care what’s criminal and what’s not I need to keep a roof over my head, now I’ve given you an option, I’ll be in touch later after 11.22pm. You’ll make the transfer or you’ll be exposed.

Victim: Exposed as what?

Lee: You know what I’m talking about. Now I’m done talking, if the transfer is not made by 11.22pm you’ll be exposed. Goodbye

To another of her victims...

Lee: Show me you’re a decent human being, get the transfer done and then I MIGHT discuss things further and give you that information but until then the threat stands in place. I’ll not reply now. I’ve told you how things will happen. You’ve got until 11.22pm.

Lee: My name doesn’t matter but we meet ages ago via SeekingArrangement

Lee: It doesn’t matter who. I’ve told you enough. I don’t care what’s criminal and what’s not I need to keep a roof over my head.

Lee: Now I’ve given you an option, I’ll be in touch later after 11.22pm. You’ll make the transfer or you’ll be exposed

Victim: Exposed as what?

Lee: You know what I’m talking about. Now I’m done talking, if the transfer is not made by 11.22pm you’ll be exposed. Goodbye

What is SeekingArrangement?

FOUNDED in 2006 by Brandon Wade, SeekingArrangement.com, is a controversial members dating website, based in Las Vegas.

The website centres around the concept of sugar babies and sugar daddies – a type of “transactional” relationship, where the sugar daddy provides financial security for the sugar baby.

The practice is sometimes called “sugaring” and typically involves a sugar daddy who is wealthier and older than the sugar baby and provides them money or gifts.

Daily Echo:

SeekingArrangement is one of the biggest websites of its type, is available in more than 130 countries and currently has more than 2.6 million active sugar babies, both male and female.

Although membership is free for sugar babies, sugar daddies must pay for a monthly premium membership - of around £35 ($50).

The sugar daddy concept has proved controversial and SeekingArrangement has featured in both the New York Times and Cosmopolitan.

SeekingArrangement also featured in the trial over the death of Google executive Forrest Hayes, who was found dead on his yacht November 2013, after meeting a woman through the website.

The company did not respond to the Echo’s request for comment.