Woman in Malaysia scammed into sending nude photo in loan application

MALAYSIA — An engineer in Kuantan became the latest victim of an online blackmail scam after sending her nude photo to a syndicate for “loan approval”.

Harian Metro reported that the 29-year-old first discovered the syndicate’s loan advertisements on Facebook in early December 2019.

“The woman handed over a copy of her identity card, salary statement, bank account statement, utility bill and a nude picture of herself to the suspect for the purpose of getting a loan, ” said Pahang Commercial Crimes Investigation Department chief Supt Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof.

The victim then received a WhatsApp message from the syndicate on Christmas Day agreeing to lend her RM5,000.

Shortly after, the syndicate threatened to leak the victim’s nude photograph if she did not transfer money to its contact person.

Within a span of five days, the victim made 13 transactions to three different bank accounts.

Despite paying RM17,985, the syndicate still demanded an additional RM15,000.

The victim refused and filed a police report at the Kuantan district police headquarters on Monday.