A 68-year-old woman from Gordon’s Bay is allegedly being blackmailed for money after sending nude photos of herself to a man in the United States, whom she had met on the social media app TikTok.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said she had approached Gordon’s Bay police and was currently in contact with The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), federal law-enforcement agency in the USA.
“I will not stop pursuing legal action until this man sees justice,” she said. “I should never have been so gullible to fall for his charms. He came across as such a respectable human being with strong Christian values and knew exactly what to say to me. I trusted him.”
The pensioner explained that she was married to her husband for 38 years before his passing in 2013 and ever since has found herself emotionally vulnerable, but despite this has always maintained a positive attitude and describes herself a happy person.
Several months ago she came across an account on TikTok of an American man and they started communicating via text messages.
“You could say that we were in a relationship, and eventually I started sharing intimate photos of myself which also showed my face. I really trusted him, but he soon started to change his attitude and then demanded that I send him US$18 000, which equates to well over R300 000, or else he’ll have the photos published. I am absolutely devastated.”
Fearing the worst, the woman has made contact with the FBI and said it had been very helpful so far.
“I’ve exchanged a lot of information with them, and hopefully the culprit will be tracked down and those photos will never be published.
“I want to take this opportunity to warn others to be very careful when meeting strangers online. This experience has almost turned my life upside down.”
According to legal-advice website LegalWise this type of extortion could be referred to as revenge porn.
This is the non-consensual sharing or distribution of nude or sexually explicit images or videos of a person, done with the express purpose of humiliating them.
Revenge porn, which can have a devastating effect on the mental health of the victim, is a violation of their constitutional right to dignity.
The Films and Publications Act 65 of 1996 prohibits and criminalises revenge porn. This means women who are victims of revenge porn can lay criminal charges against the perpetrators, who could face jail time of up to two years and/or a fine of up to R150 000.
