Sex scams target international students in South Auckland

Foreign male students are being targeted in fresh wave of sex scams as more become the victims of extortion and robbery in south Auckland. Photo / Getty

Foreign students are being targeted in fresh wave of sex scams. An increasing number of men are becoming the victims of extortion and robbery.

The unsuspecting victims are being lured to isolated locations across South Auckland with promises of sex but are soon stripped of their cash and belongings.

Criminals are also using social media to blackmail students by getting them to send compromising photos after developing fictitious relationships online. The pictures are then used for extortion.

Counties Manukau Inspector Nga-Wati Chaplow said the crimes had been trending in South Auckland and students needed to be aware they could easily fall prey.

"Relationships are developed over social media, promises are made. These victims expose themselves at the request of the female party and the blackmail goes from there," he told RNZ.

Indian students were being tricked into going to places where they could be robbed under the guise of a sexual encounter, he said.

"There are websites where liaisons are arranged. The liaison is a front so the males become victims of robbery," Chaplow said.

Inspector Chaplow said police did not have figures about the scale of the problem but said the region had seen a definite growth in this type of crime.