Doctored lewd images of victims posted on fake 'dating' chat group, says Melaka exco

MELAKA: Photos of a 65-year-old grandmother are among the images of hundreds of locals that reportedly uploaded into a private Telegram dating group, says a Melaka lawmaker.

Kota Laksamana assemblyman Low Chee Leong said the teenage grandson of the elderly woman was aghast after discovering the doctored and obscene pictures of his granny were uploaded into the chat group.

"The 19-year-old was in tears and felt embarrassed when he told me that the pictures of his grandma were posted in a bikini with wording stating that she was lonely and was seeking companionship.

"The teenager told me that a retiree, who is his neighbour, showed him the pictures of his granny and sadly even an elderly woman wasn’t spared by these sick fraudsters," he said on Tuesday (Sept 12).

Low has also received complaints on photos of female executives, housewives and even young men that were extracted from social media to be uploaded in the dating group.

"The pictures of innocent individuals from various locations here were doctored showing them in bathing suits and underwear.

"I am concerned over the latest development where pictures of locals are being misused by manipulating the images through an artificial image-generator program.

"One of our family members could be probably the next victim," he said.

Low said another of the catfish victims was a 42-year-old housewife who was deeply disturbed when her doctored picture in a scantily-clad attire was uploaded into the chat group.

"The housewife with two teenage children was upset when her photos of her attending her son’s school event that she posted on her Facebook page last month were extracted and abused," he said.

Low, who is also Melaka rural development, agriculture and food security committee deputy chairman, said the chat group claimed that there were 700,000 members and was purely a dating site but instead displayed inappropriate pictures of innocent victims.

Low said he also found it odd on why the scammers targeted housewives and elderly women here to be part of their profile pictures of available singles.

"I was told that only a few fabricated photos of young men were posted in the chat group," he said.

Low added that he has encouraged the victims to make a police report or officially lodged complaints with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).