DUBAI // A blackmailer who posed as a woman to convince his victim to send naked pictures of himself before threatening to post the images online has been jailed.
Emirati A A, 35, told prosecutors he first met Tunisian K M, 33, who he thought was a Lebanese woman, on Instagram and they began to chat on WhatsApp.
“He claimed he was a woman and sent a picture of a naked woman, claiming it was him,” said A A.
“He asked me for pictures of myself naked. I refused but later I sent a couple of pictures and asked him to delete them after,” A A said. However K M refused. “When I asked why, he told me ‘you will see’.”
Two weeks later, K M threatened to send the pictures to all of A A’s contacts on LinkedIn.
“He asked me to help a couple of friends get jobs at Emirates Airline,” said A A. “But later he started a Facebook page under my name and threatened to post the pictures on that.”
A A said K M also demanded a diamond ring and US$5,000 (Dh18,365) to be wired to Lebanon.
“I reported him to police. They asked me to talk to him and say that I would give the money in person,” said A A.
K M agreed and said a friend would meet A A at Mirdif City Centre on December 7 last year.
When the friend, who was in fact K M, turned up he was arrested.
K M was charged with misusing telecommunications to threaten and blackmail A A. He denied the charge at Dubai Criminal Court.
“He confessed to us when we arrested him and said that he initially asked for US$10,000 but then settled for US$5,000,” said police officer F M.
Prosecutors said six images of A A naked were found on KM’s iPhone.
K M was sentenced to one year in jail to be followed by deportation.
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