Lhakpa Quendren
Norbu accepted a friend request on Facebook from a woman named Tashey Choden Dorji he thought he knew. The woman asked him for a video call.
Knowing that it was a fake Facebook account, Norbu started to delve deeper and agreed to deposit Nu 300.
In the chat, the scammer sent him nude images claiming to be a woman in a compromising position as evidence. The scammer shared a mobile phone number for payment through goBoB.
When he called, Norbu said, a muted video of a nude girl is played on the screen. “When I said I was going to report it to the police, the scammer ended the call and blocked me.”
Following the exchange of several warning text messages through the phone number the scammer shared for the payment, Norbu said he was able to talk to the scammer who was a 16-year-old student.
“He admitted to doing such things to other men as well and said he would not repeat it. But he was found doing it again from a different fake Facebook account,” he said.
This scam is becoming rampant online mainly through nude video calls targeting men.
Scammers hold multiple fake Facebook profiles using attractive women’s pictures and post every day on their Facebook stories for a video sex call in ‘enticing language’.
They are actually men and youths, unemployed and students, trying to cheat other men online.
Another man said that there is an increasing number of such posts on social media.
Many fake Facebook accounts post every day on their Facebook story demanding money for video sex calls. The scammers basically add male friends on Facebook and some are cheated.
One of the scammers writes, “mBoB to goBoB and call me faster. But please don’t cheat on me. I won’t cheat you as well.”
While the Royal Bhutan Police have not received any complaints of nude video call scams, police officials say this would be a trending online fraud.
Police officials urge the public to avoid communicating with any unknown person using a fake identity on social media.