Kuala Lumpur: A 14-year-old girl was blackmailed by a loan shark who threatened to expose her nude photo on social media after she was lured into an online job scam.
The victim, identified only as Ms Yap, responded to a “part-time job” offer sent via WhatsApp and was added to a Telegram group offering paid online tasks.
She was instructed to transfer RM30 to begin the tasks and received RM60 after completing two assignments.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});However, during her third task, she was told she had made a mistake and was asked to top up RM500 to proceed.
She was later told to pay another RM1,000, which she could not do.
On July 5, she approached a loan shark known as “Terry” who demanded a nude photo and her family’s personal details as collateral after claiming it was necessary as she was underage and could not sign a loan agreement.
The RM1,000 was disbursed to her via an e-wallet, and Terry instructed her to repay RM1,500 within six days.
Her father settled the RM1,500 debt on Monday, believing the matter was closed.
However, on Tuesday, Terry called again, claiming that the early repayment had caused a system error, and demanding RM15,000.
He threatened to post the girl’s nude photo on Facebook and warned that he would take further action against the family if payment was not made.
The family lodged a police report on Tuesday and met with MCA public services and complaints department chief Michael Chong yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference here, Chong said the case was one of 43 scam-related complaints involving women this year, including at least three incidents of extortion with nude photos.
“This case is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said
“These scam syndicates are now working with Ah Longs (loan sharks) using platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram to exploit young women.”
Chong urged parents to monitor their children’s online activity and warned the youth against falling for promises of easy cash through online jobs or investment schemes.
