Dream turns into nightmare for teen aspiring model

BEAUFORT: A teenage girl’s dream of becoming a model turned into a nightmare after the “modelling agency manager” threatened to viral half-nude pictures she had sent him via Instagram.

The 15-year-old girl was duped into sending the pictures after the man convinced her that the pictures would be used to secure modelling gigs.

It is learnt that the victim got to know the man via Instagram last month.

The man had told her that he was looking for a model and had asked her to fill up a form sent via Instagram direct message.

He also asked her to send naked pictures of herself, supposedly to be used for clothing size guideline. The girl sent several photos, including half-naked pictures.

She, however, became suspicious when the suspect insisted that she sent nude pictures of herself. Realising that something was amiss, she stopped all communication with the “manager”.

However, her nightmare started when she received a message demanding that she pay him RM500 to prevent the photos from being posted online.

She lodged a report on Friday. District police chief Deputy Superintandent Azmir Abd Razak said police traced the messages to an Instagram account user by the name of @fordhaneem.

Azmir said the girl later received another message from an individual named Harith, who claimed to have received her halfnaked photos from @fordhaneem.

“This person demanded that she pay him money to prevent the pictures from being spread.

“The victim suspected the two individuals (@fordhaneem and Harith) were the same person,” he said.

Azmir said police traced the messages to a 17-year-old boy in Kamunting, Perak. He said the boy had been arrested and remanded.

The boy is being investigated under Section 12 of the Sexual Offences Against Children 2017, which carries a maximum five years’ jail and caning.