Reaction Unit South Africa is currently dealing with three complainants who have been extorted for large amounts of cash by people that they have befriended on Facebook.
In the first incident the complainant who is a 24 year old male and a resident of Phoenix in KZN approached RUSA seeking assistance after an female extorted R35 000 from him when he sent her nude pictures. The victim accepted an invite on Facebook and after a brief chat he exchanged his Whatsapp number with the female. During a conversation he informed her of his residential area, family business and personal details.
Within a few days they exchanged nude pictures and the female began demanding money and threatened to expose the nude pictures on social media. The victim payed the woman R5000 and she continued to harass him for more money. After blocking the female on social media, she contacted the family business leaving messages for him to unblock her and again threatened to release the pictures to employees at the business. The victim eventually paid R35 000 in cash. The suspect is an indian female and believed to be a Tongaat resident.
In the second and third incident, the complainants are females (aged 22 and 26) who have been extorted for approx R25 000 each by different indian males. Both victims who are North Coast residents informed Reaction Officers that they were receiving approx 20 Friend requests and messages per day on Facebook Messenger after they had posted selfies on social media.
The men who are from South Africa and India complimented the woman on their appearance and convinced the woman to chat on Whatsapp and Messenger. After a lengthy conversation they eventually exchanged pictures of their breasts and private parts.
The suspects shortly after began blackmailing both woman into depositing monies into the accounts. They initially start of with smaller amounts and then began demanding larger figures. When the woman attempted to block one suspect, he pitched up at a school and showed the nude pictures to the woman child.
The woman had given the men details of their work, residential addresses and schools that their kids attended in their initial conversations. Both woman paid large amounts of money and are living in fear of their safety. One of the victims is unemployed and was forced to sell personal items and borrow money to pay the suspect.
Investigations are continuing.
Read the original article on Reaction Unit South Africa
South Africa Today – South Africa News
