A Hong Kong vlogger, who gives online classes on how to pick up women and “dominate” them, has been arrested by the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department on suspicion of engaging in unfair trade practices to sell his dating training and consultation services.
In a press release issued late on Wednesday, the customs agency said that they had arrested the 32-year-old man that same day for making misleading omissions and using aggressive commercial practices.
According to local media, the arrestee is a vlogger – who calls himself Professor Devil. He runs a YouTube channel called BADASS ACADEMY and a Patreon account with the username devilpuahk.
On his Patreon page, he promises to equip men with skills to “dominate women” through two types of classes – one with a one-off price tag of HK$77,090 (US$9,830) and another at HK$1,180 (US$150) a month – which include weekly videos on how to pick up women, image consulting, and question and answer sessions via WhatsApp.
The pick-up artist has claimed that more than 10,000 students have benefited from the classes.
Customs said that it had earlier received information alleging that the man had omitted important information regarding the sales of his training and consultation services.
“The man demanded [the] victim purchase an additional image transformation service at HK$100,000 (US$12,750) after receiving the membership fee from the victim. Otherwise, he would refuse to give [him] lessons,” the release read.
It added that he was suspected of coercing the victim to purchase the image transformation service by posting videos of the victim on the internet.
Customs said that an investigation is ongoing and the arrestee has been released on bail pending further investigation.
According to Sing Tao Daily, the victim is a university student in his 20s.
Professor Devil’s teaching methods have long been questioned.
According to a report by TVB program Scoop released in 2019, some of his previous students accused the pick-up artist of teaching them to molest women.
The former students added that his lessons were “useless”.
His original YouTube channel was banned earlier this year, which Professor Devil claimed was caused by women’s rights activists reporting him for advocating polygamy.
In his videos, the pick-up artist often criticizes men for actions such as carrying their date’s handbag or paying for their meals instead of “dominating” them.
