CU Police Worried More 'Sextortion' Victims Are Too Afraid To Come Forward
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - A woman from Singapore is accused of scamming at least two students at the University of Colorado in Boulder where she tried to blackmail them with a video of the students committing a sex act online.
The woman, going by the name Queenie Lee, contacted the students through Facebook and in less than an hour convinced them to go on Skype where they performed a sexually explicit act. The woman would then demand money from the students. She said that she had taped the incident and threatened to post it on Facebook for the victim's family and friends to see if she was not paid.
"Having the suspect ask the victims to remove his clothes ... that's all in an hour … it's incredible," said Sgt. Michael Lowry with CU campus police.
"They engaged in sexual activity over Skype and the suspect was saying, 'Pay me or I'll put this out,'" Lowry said.
Campus police worry there may be more victims. Three similar cases occurred last spring on campus from different suspects. In two cases the victims refused to cooperate with police in their investigation. Investigators are concerned victims may be too ashamed to come forward, citing a 2013 incident in Scotland where the victim of a similar scam committed suicide.
Interpol and the FBI have been contacted and police feel confident the woman can be found. She texted with one of the victims and police were able to call her. She hung up when she realized police were on the other end.
The woman is wanted on a felony extortion charge.
Additional Resources
CU Police provided the following information about this case:
Anyone with additional information on this scam is urged to contact CUPD Investigations Sgt. Steve Cowles at (303) 492-8168.
To keep yourself safe from "sextortion," do not text, email or post online explicit photos of yourself. Remember that once you put an image out there, you lose control of it, even if that image is hidden behind a password lock. An anti-virus software program can help to keep you safe from a variety of different types of attacks, including sextortion. For it to be effective, update it regularly. Make an update a part of your weekly routine. If you believe you have been the victim of sextortion on campus, contact CUPD at 303-492-6666. You can also file a report with the federal Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx. This cybercrime task force is a joint undertaking among the FBI, the National White Collar Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Stan Bush is a general assignment reporter at CBS4. His stories can be seen on CBS4 News at 10. Read his bio and follow him on Twitter @StanBushTV.
