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Net catches Hong Kong men in rising 'sextortion' internet blackmail cases, police say
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 27 October, 2015, 6:31pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 27 October, 2015, 11:07pm
Clifford Lo
[email protected]
Police say the number of reported cases and amount of money paid in cybersex blackmailing schemes have both risen in Hong Kong this year. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Three Hong Kong men aged from 20 to 61 are the city’s latest sex chat victims after they were threatened with the prospect of images or videos of their indecent acts being circulated on the internet if they refused to pay.
The three cases came to light today as it was revealed that cases of cybersex-related blackmail rose sharply this year.
Police figures showed there were 506 local reports of ‘sextortion’ in the first six months of this year – more than eight times the 60 cases reported for the whole of 2012. In 2013, there were 477 cases, and last year there were 638.
According to police, the amount the victims paid in the crimes also increased to HK$1.6 million in the first six months of this year, up by a factor of ten from HK$100,000 for all of 2012. Swindlers pocketed HK$1.7 million through such online naked chat blackmailing in 2013 and took in HK$2.3 million last year.
A police spokeswoman said none of the three men involved in the latest three cases tendered any payment.
The 61-year-old man, who lives in Tin Shui Wai, called police at about 8.15am today after payment was demanded of him, according to police.
“He told police he was filmed during an online video chat with a woman and then ordered to pay HK$50,000,” the spokeswoman said.
The second victim was a 20-year-old man who lodged his complaint with police in Kwai Chung at about 10.45am today.
He was also filmed, at his home in Hung Hom, during an erotic online video chat with a woman. He was told that if he did not pay HK$20,000 the footage would be circulated online, police said.
Police received the third report from a 33-year-old man in Tai Po at about 12.15pm. “He was asked to pay HK$30,000 otherwise his naked photograph would be posted on the internet,” the spokeswoman said.
Police are treating the three cases as “blackmail”. Officers from the related police districts are investigating.
A veteran police officer said such online scams were being carried out by Asian women, and the victims were usually asked to pay money into Western Union accounts registered in the ladies’ home countries, such as the Philippines.
“Do not take off your clothes and perform indecent acts in front of a webcam,” was the officer’s advice to internet users.
In most cases, victims were prompted to take off their clothes and performed indecent acts during online video chats in which participants could view each other through webcams. They were then filmed before they were told to transfer money to an overseas bank account and faced the risk of having the video clips or photographs circulated on the internet if they did not pay.
