It is scary to see how sophisticated scams have become over the years. They’re no longer as simple as someone sending a text trying to borrow money.
Recently, a man in Singapore landed himself in trouble after answering an unknown call from the United Kingdom (UK).
Hours later, he learnt through a female friend that his phone had been hacked, with the hackers now possessing photos and videos of himself.
The hacker, allegedly from China, then deepfaked his likeness onto porn videos, using them as blackmail material for money.
Source: Facebook
He wisely refused to transfer any money despite the numerous threats and lodged a police report.
On Friday (22 Apr), a woman posted on Facebook to warn against a gravely concerning scam.
Source: Facebook
As a friend of the male victim, she shared that she had received a WhatsApp message from an unknown Malaysian number on Thursday (21 Apr).
The message started off by asking the OP if she knew the person in the attached video. The video was of a man allegedly performing sexual acts on himself while watching a female.
The following messages then mentioned how the victim in the video had allegedly engaged in sexual services but did not pay for them.
To get his “payment”, the hacker threatened to leak the video to the victim’s contacts.
Not knowing the man’s identity in the video, the OP explained her side of the story and said the person might have her contact as she runs an online business.
Source: Facebook
Hours after the post was up, the victim reached out to her via Telegram to clarify his situation.
Source: Facebook
The victim revealed that his phone had been hacked after picking up a call from an unknown UK number.
As a result, all his photos and videos on his phone were compromised by hackers. They then used his likeness from the stolen media and transposed his face onto a porn video.
The hackers also swiped his contact list and showed proof of it during the victim’s conversation with the hacking syndicate.
Source: Facebook
A separate screenshot shows the hacker’s demands and threats. They warned him against contacting the police and said they would treat the victim’s silence as proof that he did not intend to do anything.
Source: Facebook
If he still does not reply, they will share the video with his contacts and will only stop if they receive a fee of S$8,000.
The victim wisely refused to pay up but was then met with a tirade of threats.
One of the threats told the victim that he might see his nude videos and photos published on Tinder.
Source: Facebook
After clearing his name with the OP, the victim shared that he was one of many who fell prey to this type of hacking.
Since the original Facebook post made its rounds on social media, the victim said his friends knew of someone who experienced something similar.
Source: Facebook
Another friend shared that a chef they knew fell victim to the scam too.
Source: Facebook
The victim has since lodged a police report regarding the hacking incident.
He shared pictures of himself in a neighbourhood police centre and his police report.
Source: Facebook
When asked why he would answer a call from the UK, the victim explained that it was early in the morning, and he wasn’t completely awake.
Source: Facebook
He explained that he thought it was his manager who was calling him.
The OP ends the post by warning others to be careful when picking up unknown phone numbers to increase awareness of such scams.
If you find yourself embroiled in a similar scam, the one piece of advice that victims always recommend is to never transfer any amount of money to them.
While it’s easy to think that the extortion will end with a single payment, the hackers are likely to pressure you into paying more as they’ve pegged you as an easy target.
To avoid finding yourself in a similar situation, you can learn about the latest scams and their patterns on the ScamAlert website.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Facebook & Facebook.
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