Moroccan Police Arrest Three in Gulf-Targeted Online Sextortion Scheme

The three accused were scamming and blackmailing their victims, mostly from Gulf countries, on social networks. Their modus operandi consists of "filming the victims in indecent and compromising positions via the computer webcam and video calls on instant messaging applications, before coming back to blackmail them," according to sources from the daily Assabah.

The King’s Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance of Oued Zem ordered their detention on Tuesday. "The first hearing of their trial was held the same day at the Court of First Instance of Oued Zem, but it was postponed to August 28 to allow the lawyers to consult the case file and organize the defense," the same sources detail.

The three accused were arrested after the diplomatic representations of some victims filed complaints revealing money transfers "of the order of 11,000 dirhams to the first accused, 5,000 dirhams to the second and 3,000 dirhams to the third." This information allowed the investigators to locate and apprehend these scammers.