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Washington Man Pleads Guilty to Extorting Clients with Phony Escorts
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In a shocking case of cybercrime, a Washington man has pleaded guilty to extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients using phony online escort profiles.
Abdul Kareem Kabba, 29, used photos and videos of women purchased from OnlyFans to create fake escort profiles on websites such as TheEroticReview.com. He would then assume the identity of the ‘escort’ and communicate with people interested in acquiring services.
Kabba would typically ask them to send a deposit using peer-to-peer payment platforms or through websites that are commonly used by adult content creators to receive money. He also would ask clients to verify their identities by sending a picture of themselves holding a form of identification such as a driver license and sending him a link to their social media profiles.
After a client paid the deposit and sent the identifying information, Kabba would blackmail them. He would threaten the clients that, unless they sent Kabba additional money, he would alert the police, the clients’ families, and the clients’ employers that the men were attempting to solicit a prostitute.
As a result of his scheme, Kabba caused a total loss of $692,000 to his victims. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9 and faces up to 20 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was announced by Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and John T. Perez, Special Agent in Charge, Headquarters Operations, Office of Inspector General of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (FRB-CFPB OIG).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hood for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Babasijibomi Moore of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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