Police in the Philippines have arrested over 50 suspected members of online extortion syndicates which allegedly targeted victims from across the world including a
Scottish teenager who took his own life after being blackmailed.
The “sextortion” gangs predominantly exploited men from Britain, America, Australia and Hong Kong by employing women to strike up online conversations with the victims, who would be enticed into exposing themselves in front of webcams or engaging in lewd chats.
The victims would then be told that the material had been recorded and will be uploaded to the Internet and made public if they do not pay a fee. The syndicates are thought to have duped hundreds of victims, collecting thousands of dollars.
But police investigating the extortion in a number of countries including Britain were able to trace the chats from some of the victims computers back to the Philippines. Following a major international operation backed by Interpol, authorities in the country swooped on a number of organised crime gangs over the past two days.
More than 260 desktop and laptop computers, mobile phones, pornographic materials and other pieces of evidence were seized during the raids by 15 police teams, Philippine National Police chief Allan Purisima told a news conference in Manila.
Several of the arrests are believed to be linked to the case of Daniel Perry, a 17-year-old mechanic from Dunfermline in Fife, who died in July last year after falling victim to an alleged “sextortion” attempt.
Daniel believed he was speaking to an American girl but was then told by blackmailers that the conversations had been recorded and would be shared with friends and family if he didn’t pay up.
Over 50 online ‘sextortion’ gang members arrested in Philippines – Asia – World – The Independent
