Eight people have been arrested in the Philippines after Hong Kong Police joined forces with overseas law enforcement agencies in a string operation against so-called “Naked Chat” blackmail.
The phenomenon — which has seen a total of 375 Hongkongers extorted for HKD1.3 million since the start of this year — has been the target of “Operation GLOBALITEE” since October 2013, a joint initiative of Hong Kong, Filipino and Singaporean law enforcement agencies.
Naked Chat blackmail works pretty much how you might imagine, with the poor, unsuspecting victims being lured into a naked webcam chat. The resulting video is then used the blackmail the suddenly shy exhibitionist.
Five men and three women aged between 23 and 45 were arrested in various locations across the Philippines on Thursday and Friday last week. Five minors who had been “used by the culprits to lure Naked Chat victims” were also rescued, according to a release by Hong Kong Government.
Are we the only ones who think guys getting lured into naked chats with minors should not be treated as “victims”?
All eight people arrested and 18 suspects still at large are thought to be connected with Naked Chat blackmail cases in Hong Kong. The same operation saw 58 Filipinos arrested in April.
Photo: Gisela Giardino via Flickr
