Man busted for Facebook boob photos scam
Posed photo of a man in handcuffs.
[video=youtube;wdOL9qzM5qc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdOL9qzM5qc[/video]
Thursday, Jun 9, 2016
A man who approached women on Facebook for pictures of their breasts under the guise of a friend raising breast cancer awareness has been arrested.
The 27-year-old started his scheme from early last month, Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday.
He would pose as a female friend and send a Facebook message to a victim, asking them to help with an online project of his by sending him photos of their bare breasts.
Some victims were told that they would get gifts and cash if they contributed.
They would do so, only to find out later that their friend had not sent such requests and that there was no such online assignment.
Shin Min spoke to two victims, one of them a 24-year-old teacher, who declined to give her name.
She said that she received a Facebook message from a fellow female teacher on May 2.
The "friend" requested photos of her breasts, saying she was doing some volunteer work raising awareness for breast cancer.
"I felt that it was inappropriate, but the person was very persuasive and I wanted to help, so I took a photo and sent it," said the teacher.
She added that the "friend" said thank you and stopped chatting after that.
Several hours later, she saw on Facebook that her friend had had her account hacked.
"After I contacted her, I reported it to the police along with another friend of hers who was duped."
Another victim, a 20-year-old air stewardess, said that her "friend" said she would give her $600 in cash and the latest phone model for photos of her breasts.
"However, after I sent her three shots, she wanted me to take them of my face and I rejected (the request)," she said.
The air stewardess added that her friend found out about her hacked account only when someone sent her a text message about it.
The police said that they received several reports since May 2 on this case.
They arrested a 27-year-old man along Orchard Road on June 6. He is believed to have hacked into the Facebook Messenger application, masquerading as a mutual friend of his victims before requesting for "compromising photos".
The suspect is being investigated for cheating by personation and unauthorised access to computer material.
The first offence is punishable with a jail term of up to five years, a fine, or both, while the second offence warrants up to two years' jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
Investigations are ongoing.
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