A local man was blackmailed online after falling for a pornographic scam in which he lost 1,000 yuan (1,125 patacas), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lei Chi Hou said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Lei, the Judiciary Police received a complaint from a local youth at 9:50 p.m. on Monday. The young man reported that while browsing a social media platform named “X” around 6:38 p.m. on that day, he discovered a post named “resources exchange.” The post used push notifications* to lead users into downloading certain applications, thereby enabling access to specific pornographic websites, Lei said.
After clicking a link inside the related post, according to Lei, the victim downloaded an app on his mobile phone. However, the app compromised his phone, stole the contact information stored on it, and hijacked his Telegram account.
Lei said the hacker then sent a message via Telegram, demanding that the victim pay 1,000 yuan or else they would send pornographic content to his family members and publicly expose the fact that the victim had visited adult websites via the mobile app.
According to Lei, after the victim made the payment as instructed, the hacker demanded an additional 5,000 yuan. As the victim felt the situation would be endless, he reported the case to the Judiciary Police, Lei said.
According to Lei, the victim claimed a total loss of 1,000 yuan and requested a criminal investigation.
*A push notification is a short, automated message sent by an application (web, mobile, or desktop) to a user’s device without the app being open. These messages “push” through to the user’s home screen, lock screen, or notification centre, even when their device is idle. – DeepSeek
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lei Chi Hou looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Armindo Neves
