'We've got videos of you': Former Argentina striker and model girlfriend 'blackmailed by hackers over stolen SEX TAPES and photos'

Hackers have reportedly threatened Ezequiel Lavezzi via Instagram, demanding thousands of dollars in ransoms to prevent the immediate release of intimate videos and photos featuring the ex-international and lover Natalia Borges.

The World Cup finalist is said to have filed two cases with prosecutors in Buenos Aires after receiving messages from criminals who proved they had stolen intimate videos and pictures of him and Natalia Borges, an actress and model with more than 104,000 followers on the social media platform.

Thieves are seeking $5,000 per file in return for not publishing the material, according to Le Parisien.

"These people tell him they have their videos and conversations and they have given the details of the content," a media source in Argentina is quoted as saying.

"So it's completely believable. Even if everything was false, it would still be extortion."

Lavezzi is spending quarantine with Borges on the Caribbean island of San Bartolome, courting controversy in his homeland for purportedly dating the ex-girlfriend of one of his best friends.

His ex-girlfriend, Yanina Screpante, told a journalist that he had lied to his friend after starting an affair with Borges while the pair were still together.

"He lied to his friend," she revealed. "I caught him in Brazil a few years ago and recently again.

"Anyway, he can do what he wants – it is his problem. There is karma."

Screpante also alleged that Lavezzi had form for similar dalliances and had entered a relationship with the ex-flame of friend and famous Argentine producer Nacho Viale.

"They were good friends and he didn't care," she said. "It's no wonder he does this. He's done it before."

Borges and Lavezzi have not published any photos of themselves together but aroused suspicions after they were spotted drinking the same make of wine in posts made almost simultaneously on their platforms.

After posting a photo of himself alone on a beach last month, Lavezzi chatted to stars including Arsenal's Hector Bellerin and PSG's Angel di Maria in the comments and responded to a question from a fan about press rumors by saying: "Let them speak. I'm still friends with my friends."

The former forward set up a goal by Lionel Messi against Iran in the group stage of the World Cup in 2014 and repeated the trick for Gonzalo Higuain in the final against Argentina, only to see that strike ruled off for offside before he was replaced by Sergio Aguero at half-time.

He watched from the bench as Argentina lost 1-0 in extra-time but continued his career for a further two years, finishing with nine goals in 51 international appearances.

In his club career, Lavezzi was best known for spending five years at Napoli followed by four at Paris Saint Germain. He retired in 2019 after three years at Hebei China Fortune, where he was thought to earn around $12 million a year.