DUMAGUETE CITY — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has warned the public against purported online recruiters in search of young models.
The NBI here, however, is facing a brick wall in trying to unmask the real identity of a Facebook account owner, who has victimized minors by recruiting them as models.
NBI Special Investigator Maria Contessa Lastimoso said Tuesday afternoon that a mother of a senior high school student has sought the help of their office, saying that nude photos of her daughter were posted on Facebook by the alleged recruiter.
The Facebook account of the alleged recruiter is Quinnie Cruz Ramos, who had successfully enticed the victim to become a model in exchange for a good pay. The student was asked to send head shots and photos of her wearing gowns and with makeup.
However, the third requirement was for the victim to submit nude photos and a “one-night stand” in a motel to be booked by the girl herself.
To the dismay and surprise of the victim, she was later on asked by the suspect to pay PHP30,000 and warned that if she failed to do so, her nude photos would be posted on social media. The alleged recruiter also added the friends of the minor on Facebook.
The NBI, after receiving the complaint of the girl’s mother, set an entrapment but the alleged recruiter failed to show up.
Another victim of the same Facebook personality also surfaced, this time, a 23-year-old woman from Tanjay City, Negros Oriental.
The victim, who declined to be identified, said she first refused the offer, but the alleged recruiter persisted and so she gave it a try, only to discover later that she was being blackmailed.
Lastimoso said the case was reported to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) but the FB account was already deactivated when authorities tried to trace it.
“Mauwat man gani ug mag-atubang, unsa na kaha kon sa chat (If one can be fooled in person, how much more via chat),” she said.
She also advised the public not to give nude photos and sex videos to anyone to avoid being blackmailed.
Lastimoso said the NBI’s local office has been receiving a number of complaints about nude photos and videos being sent to friends on Facebook for extortion purposes, in violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 9995, otherwise known as “An Act Defining and Penalizing The Crime of Photo And Video Voyeurism Prescribing Penalties Thereof And For Other Purposes”.
The latest victim is filing three cases against a certain Quinnie Cruz Ramos for violation of RA 9995, aside from RA 10175 or the Cyber Crime Prevention Act of 2012 and grave threats under the Revised Penal Code. (Juancho Gallarde/PNA)
