More men falling victim to online strip-and-pay extortion scams
PUBLISHED ONAugust 19, 2014 10:15 PMByNg Jun Sen
SINGAPORE - Are men here so desperate that they would strip for a complete stranger they have just met online?
That is not the worst of it. These men then pay lots of money to prevent their pictures from being posted online.
Despite police warnings, there has been a spike in the number of reported cyber extortion cases.
Between January and June last year, there were 38 cases. In the same period this year, the figure was 132 - a 247 per cent increase. The total amount involved also jumped, from at least $22,000 to at least $57,000.
Said head of investigation at Tanglin Police Division, Superintendent (Supt) Justin Wong, in an interview with The New Paper last week: "Most victims are men between 20 and 30 years old.
"Our Singaporean men are unfortunately so driven by lust that they fall victim to cyber extortion and it only takes a few days for scammers to gain rapport (with their victims)."
A typical scam case starts when an innocuous-looking and pretty face pops up on your Facebook account, wanting to befriend you. In a video chat, she would strip naked and tempt you to do the same.
Once the scammers get their victims to perform obscene acts on camera or have obtained lewd photos of the victims, they have "achieved their target", said Supt Wong, who has led several investigations into cyber extortion cases.
"That's when the picture of the lady disappears and out comes a message that show a link to a video of yourself in compromising positions."
Scammers will use these photos and videos to blackmail their victims for money.
Of the 132 cases so far this year, 61 victims sent money to their scammers to prevent explicit photos and videos of themselves from being spread. One victim was under the age of 16.
In one case this year, a 37-year-old man was extorted of about $7,300 after he was persuaded to show his genitals over video conferencing application Skype.
He paid because the scammer threatened to send a recorded video of his actions to his family and friends.
SCAM CASES THIS YEAR
JANUARY
A 23-year-old man was extorted of $1,500 after he got to know a woman through a mobile messaging application.
They progressed to chatting online and the woman suggested they make a video of both them stripping. The victim agreed.
The woman threatened to circulate the video to the victim's friends and family if he did not remit money to her. He paid her and made a police report.
FEBRUARY
A 37-year-old man lost $6,700 after he befriended an unknown woman on Facebook and they started chatting. They then communicated on Skype.
In one video chat, the woman suddenly appeared naked and asked him to reveal his genitals to her. She then blackmailed him and threatened to post the video on YouTube and share it with his friends.
The man made several transfers through a remittance agency before informing the police.
APRIL
Another 37-year-old man was extorted of $7,300 after his female scammer appeared in the nude in a video chat and asked him to show her his genitals.
He was reluctant but eventually persuaded to do so by the woman.
Not long after the video call ended, he was showed the video of him revealing his genitals. He was asked to pay her for the video to be deleted.
JULY
An 18-year-old man was invited to chat via Skype and was cheated of $3,100. During the chat, both the victim and woman performed indecent acts.
The next day, he received a Facebook message from the woman with a link to a YouTube clip of him performing the indecent act.
She asked for a sum of money to be paid, failing which the video would be circulated to his family and friends. He complied.
This article was first published on August 18, 2014.
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