Police Arrest Palestinian in 'Sextortion' Case
Police have arrested a Palestinian man who extorted his young victims through social networking sites after threatening to publish obscene photos of them.
The Internal Security Forces said 22-year-old J.A. was arrested over the weekend when an underage Palestinian informed police about his schemes.
M.H., 15, said he had met J.A. on Facebook. The man claimed that he was a woman and lured the teenager to send him pornographic photos and videos of him.
J.A. then threatened to publish the photos and videos if M.H. did not send him money.
M.H. also told police that the suspect forced him to go out with him and during a certain night out he tried to sexually abuse him.
Police investigated the claim and arrested J.A. in the southern city of Sidon's Nejmeh square, said the ISF in a communique issued on Friday.
The communique said the man admitted to having four fictitious accounts on Facebook. He told investigators that he had met 1,050 teenagers and had contacted them via his Whatsapp social media account.
The internet predator was able in the past two years to blackmail more than 100 of them similar to the case of 15-year-old M.H, the ISF said.
The man admitted to saving all the photos and videos of his victims on his mobile phone, it added.
Police urged citizens to be cautious about requests for friendship on social networking sites and not to send photos or videos of themselves to untrustworthy people.
Interpol has warned that "sextortion" has emerged as a major concern in recent years as criminals take advantage of more people using social media and greater mobile Internet access via smartphones.
G.K.
D.A.
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