Durban - The “naked pics for cash scam” has widened, with the culprits obtaining naked pictures taken by the victim, and then sourced off stolen hardware or phone data.
Family members are also being “photoshopped” into naked images of the scamsters’ target.
The Independent on Saturday reported recently on a scam, operating largely in KZN and Gauteng, in which people were blackmailed into paying scamsters to not release fake naked images.
More than 300 people have come forward so far, claiming to have been caught in the scam.
The South African Community Crime Watch (SACCW) reported that people were contacted via Facebook and WhatsApp, supposedly by an attractive woman or man, who offered to send naked pictures in return for explicit pictures of the person they had targetted.
When their target refused to do so, the scamsters sent them naked images that appeared to depict the victim, along with threats that the images would be circulated unless a payment was made.
SACCW Gauteng head Mike Venter said: “After a recent appeal to the public for victims of extortion to come forward, SACCW phone lines and e-mails have been bombarded with victim reports.”
He said some of the pictures had been photoshopped to include family members.
He said another, less common approach by the scamsters was to obtain actual nude pictures that the victims took of themselves.
“Reports have been received of pictures being sent between partners/friends via social media, shared in trust (then reshared) or obtained via stolen hardware.
“Incidents of cellphones that have been sold and have not been cleared, still having private pictures and contacts, have also been reported.
“These pictures - once the owners have been traced by contacting those in the address book and tricking them into supplying the identity of those in the pictures - once again become material used in extortion,” he said.
He urged people to ensure that their Facebook and other social media accounts were restricted, and for their devices to be wiped clear before they were sold.