Naked pics for cash scam
KZN victims caught via social media
NEARLY 200 victims have come forward in the “naked pics for cash” scam that was blown wide open this week, with targets in a widespread national extortion racket speaking out.
Most of the victims are from KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
SA Community Crime Watch (SACCW) sounded the alarm and yesterday the scam was being circulated on social media platforms.
Men and women are allegedly contacted via Facebook and WhatsApp, supposedly by an attractive woman or man, who offers to send naked pictures in return for explicit pictures of the target.
When the target refuses to do so, images photoshopped to appear to be the victim are sent to him or her, along with threats that the images would be posted onto social media unless an immediate payment was made.
In some cases the target has been persuaded to send naked photos.
Last night, SACCW Gauteng head, Mike Venter, said that by yesterday afternoon more than 180 reports had come in from scam victims. He said they were working with the Hawks, who are investigating.
Venter said investigations so far have revealed that it may be a syndicate at work, operating from Limpopo, and that multiple cellphone numbers were being used by the extortion gang.
“The victims of this scam range across all ages and professions, with the youngest being a 15-yearold boy. A paraplegic man was also targeted. The victims appear to come mainly from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and the modus operandi is the same.
“The perpetrator will take a photo of an attractive male or female off the net and use it as a profile picture. The perpetrator first contacts the target on Facebook and from there gains the cell number and the communication starts taking place on WhatsApp.
“They start up a conversation with the perpetrator offering to send a naked picture and asking for one in return. Some victims have sent pictures, which are then used for extortion, or if the victim has refused, the perpetrator photoshops the victim’s head onto a naked body.
“Threats are made to put these pictures onto social media. It is very embarrassing for the victim and payments that have been made were done via e-wallet or similar cash methods of payment,” said Venter.
A Pretoria businessman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, but whose name is known to The Independent on Saturday, was caught by the syndicate and paid them.
“This woman contacted me on Messenger and then WhatsApp. The first thing she asked was ‘was I naughty?’. We ended up swopping naked pictures and the next morning she wanted R4000 or she said she was going to put the photos on Facebook and tell my fiancée and her parents.
“She had taken photos of my fiancée and her parents from my Facebook page. I said I only had R700 on me and I went and made a cash payment. She kept on hounding me for the rest, but I ignored it after that.
“I thought it was a woman, but now I don’t know. I thought I was the only one, but I can say I’ve learned my lesson,” he said.
Another message, to a female victim who said she had no money to pay a bribe, read “Lol that easy you think I dont know wat to do. I blackmail police, judges, station commanders, lawyers, even celebrity so wat do you think you will find me go and tell ur father about this I dont give a f… about anyone and I dont afraid everything, so go ahead if you dont give me money, im going to blackmail you right now. (Sic)”
But the cyber crooks got more than they bargained for when they approached Patrick Waite, 49, from Durban, the owner of Alert South Africa, which assists the public and law enforcement agencies with crime-related matters.
“It started when I received a Facebook friend request from an unknown woman, who then contacted me on WhatsApp.
“I am a direct person and asked her what she was looking for, a friendship or relationship?
“She asked for a naked picture of me and when I said no, she offered to send a naked picture of herself.
“When I still refused, the messages started to get threatening and she sent a picture of my ex-girlfriend, which they had obviously taken off my Facebook page. She also sent a photo of a penis. She threatened to tell my wife or post it to Facebook, but I don’t have a wife.
“I had quickly realised this was a scam and had contacted friends to start tracking where these messages were coming from. I killed the conversation,” said Waite.
The message was tracked to an internet café at the Giyani Shopping Centre in Limpopo.
“For a person who is not familiar with law enforcement, this type of incident would come over as very threatening. If you get a message like this, shut it down,” said Waite.
SACCW’s Venter has asked that anyone who had been a victim of the scam, or had any information relating to it, to please contact any of these members: Steven King at 082 920 5799; Marius Jacobs at 079 898 4539; Lourens Smit at 084 317 4149 or e-mail Mike Venter SACCW Gauteng at mike.gauteng@saccw.org, or report it to their nearest police station.
The Hawks had not responded at the time of going to press.