Three local men have separately fallen victim to online extortion, resulting in a total loss of about 40,000 yuan (45,000 patacas), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Chong, the police received a report from a local male student who said that he had met a man on social media on Sunday morning and communicated with him via Telegram. The man persuaded the victim to download software and later claimed to have hacked into his phone. The man threatened to send “lewd photos” to all of his contacts if he did not pay. The victim paid a total of 34,531 yuan. However, the blackmail continued, finally leading him to report the case to the police.
Chong noted that, in a separate case, a middle-aged local man reported that he had met a woman on a social media platform on Thursday. After chatting on Telegram, she requested that he download a mobile application for a video call. On Saturday night, he received an edited video that combined his profile picture with an image of genitalia, which she used to extort money from him. He immediately reported the case to the police and did not incur any financial loss.
In another case, Chong added that a local male student reported that he had met a woman on a social media platform on Sunday and was lured into a nude video chat on Telegram. A few minutes later, the woman edited the footage and demanded 10,000 yuan. Unable to pay the full amount, the victim managed to transfer 5,000 yuan. However, the blackmail continued. The victim then reported the case to the police.
