BEAUFORT: A teenage girl’s dream of becoming a model turned into a nightmare after the so-called modelling agency manager threatened to viral half nude pictures she had sent him via Instagram.
The 15-year-old had been duped into sending the pictures after she was convinced they would be used to secure her modelling jobs.
It is learnt that the victim got to know the individual via Instagram last month.
The individual told her he was looking for a model and asked her to fill up a form sent via Instagram direct message.
He also asked her to send naked pictures of herself, supposedly to be used for clothing size guideline.
The victim then sent several photos, including half-nude ones to the suspect.
However, the girl became suspicious when the suspect insisted that she send fully nude pictures of herself.
Realising that something was amiss, she stopped all communication with the agency manager.
However, her nightmare started when she received a message demanding that she pay him RM500 to prevent the semi-nude photos from being viraled.
She immediately lodged a police report on Friday.
District police chief Deputy Superintandent Azmir Abd Razak said police then traced the messages to an Instagram account user by the name of @fordhaneem.
Azmir said the victim later received another message from an individual named Harith, who claimed to have received her half-naked photos from @fordhaneem.
“This individual also demanded that she pay him money to prevent the pictures from being spread to more people.
“However, the victim did not make the payment and she suspected the two individuals (@fordhaneem and Harith) were the same person,” he said.
Police managed to trace the messages to a 17-year-old living in Kamunting, Perak and he has since been arrested and remanded.
The boy is being investigated under Section 12 of the Sexual Offences Against Children 2017, which carries a maximum five years jail and whipping.