Police Warn of Social Media Scams After Revealing Close Call

A State College man was recently the victim of an attempted international scam with an unusual twist.

Police first received a call on Monday from a 26-year-old international Penn State student, who told officers that a woman tried to blackmail him out of $1,000.

The con reportedly began with the man beginning a conversation with a woman over Facebook. Police say the victim believes the woman was from Singapore.

The victim and the woman next reportedly moved their conversation from Facebook to the video-chatting service Skype – and that’s when things took a turn.

Police say the woman convinced the man to undress on camera. But after he took his clothes off, the woman reportedly threatened to plaster photos of the nude victim all over the Internet and contact his family if he didn’t cough up $1,000.

The woman began to instruct the man to go to Western Union, but he reportedly ended the conversation before she finished giving her instructions. Police say he also deleted his Skype and Facebook accounts.

Police say they do not plan to conduct an investigation because the State College Police Department has little to no jurisdiction involving international scams, and does not have the ability to track the woman down.

The victim is not out any money, and police say the scammer has not contacted his family. 

“I guess the moral of the story is be careful who you interact with on social media,” says State College Police Lt. Keith Robb.