Police have arrested a 30-year old man suspected to be involved in an attempted extortion.
On 15 October 2015 at about 12.34 am, Police received a report from a 19-year-old woman informing that a man had contacted her via social media purporting to offer her a job. He subsequently convinced her into performing indecent acts in front of the webcam and took photographs of the acts without her knowledge. The man was then believed to have used these photographs to blackmail the victim for money.
Officers from Tanglin Division acted swiftly upon receiving the report. Through extensive investigations, they established the identity of the man and arrested him in Pasir Ris at about 11.15pm on the same day through an operation.
The suspect will be charged in Court on 17 October 2015 for an offence of Attempted Extortion under Section 385 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, which carries an imprisonment term of not less than two years and not more than five years and shall also be punished with caning.
Members of public are advised to be aware of such scams and to adopt the following measures:
- Exercise caution when befriending strangers on the internet
- Do not agree to any request that may put you in a vulnerable position, such as performing compromising acts in front of a webcam and providing personal details to other internet users
- Contact the Police immediately if you receive any message or call from anyone claiming he/she is in some kind of trouble overseas and need you to urgently send money over
- Inform the Police if anyone tries to extort money from you
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
16 October 2015 @ 8:30 PM