Hong Kong boy, 11, tricked into disrobing for online video chat in HK$10,000 cyber-blackmail case
- Scammers took naked pictures and clips of the victim and told his mother they would make the material public if she did not pay up
- Police figures show number of so-called naked-chat blackmail cases rose to 1,402 in 2022, up 719 percent from 171 reports in 2019
An 11-year-old boy in Hong Kong was enticed into disrobing during video chats where scammers took naked pictures and videos of him to blackmail his family.
The case came to light recently when cybercriminals sent the indecent material to the primary school student’s mother and demanded HK$10,000 (US$1,275).
The mother was told the explicit photos and footage would be made public if she refused to pay, according to police.
The case prompted the force to issue a warning on its Facebook page, urging parents to remind their children about such online traps.
The boy fell victim to the scam after befriending another user on an app. It is not known if the mother eventually paid the money to the scammers.
The Post has reached out to the force for comment.
Police figures show the number of so-called naked-chat blackmail cases rose to 1,402 in 2022, up 719 per cent from 171 reports in 2019. The amount of money involved also surged to HK$22.1 million last year from HK$1 million in 2019.