This comes after a 54-year-old man appeared in the Alexandra Regional Court yesterday, charged with fraud and extortion involving online dating scam allegations. The accused’s apprehension was effected on Saturday, 14 May 2022 by the Hawks after Chinedu Jonathan Madueke posed as a female model on social media and, demanded approximately USD 500 000 from a man to avoid his nude video from being leaked.
Here are a few safety tips to keep in mind:
Always approach any new online acquaintance with caution. Verify their profile picture. Simply perform a reverse image search to check that the picture being used wasn’t taken from someone else’s profile. Google has a quick guide on how to do this.
Don’t share personal information without giving it a second thought. Once the scammers have won your trust, they will start to ask for money. They usually start with small amounts, slowly coaxing you into paying larger amounts as things progress.
Never send nude pictures! Scammers use this to extort money from victims by threatening to expose you on social media/internet.
If you have any doubts about the person you’re communicating with, end the conversation immediately.
Report the scammer’s profile to the social site as soon as possible. Then block the scammer entirely.
