Rabat – Security services in the city of Safi, on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, have dismantled a gang involved in the online sexual coercion and extortion of minor female students.
According to reports, the gang members coerced minor girls into sending them explicit photos and videos before threatening to publish the content online. The gang had been blackmailing many victims into giving them large amounts of money.
On June 6, police arrested one of the gang members after the crime was reported by one of the female students, who had been a victim of blackmail for an entire year..
With the help of the minor girl, police set up a trap for the gang member, who thought he was meeting with the victim to receive another sum of extortion money.
After the girl met with the man and handed him an envelope containing money, police surrounded the gang member and arrested him, leading to the arrest of the remainder of the network members.
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The female student had been the victim of blackmail for an entire year, during which she was forced to steal large sums of money from her parents to pay her blackmailer.
Fed up with the neverending threats and blackmail, she decided to put an end to her suffering and tell her family about the matter.
Following the arrest of the remaining members of the crime enterprise, police discovered that the gang had other female victims who were exposed to the same form of blackmail.
The crime starts with the criminals in question making young girls believe that they are communicating with someone their own age who is interested in a relationship with them. After the criminals acquire personal pictures and videos of the victims, the blackmail starts.
In 2019, Morocco recorded around 385 cases cybercrime cases, most of which were sexual blackmail and online scams, according to the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN).
Morocco was the first non-European country to sign the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the first international treaty that seeks to address internet and computer crimes and enhance cooperation and disclosure of electronic evidence.
