A woman from Floyd County was tricked in an unusual extortion scheme where a scammer made her believe she needed to film herself taking a shower for a spiritual cleansing ritual. The police stated that the victim lost $1,500 after the scammer used her beliefs and then threatened to share the video.

The scam started with a video call where the scammer manipulated the victim psychologically by claiming she was afflicted by “witchcraft. ” To remove this curse, the scammer convinced her to participate in the ritual shower. Such scams often take advantage of people’s personal beliefs to gain trust and make them comply with strange requests.

Besides the ritual, the scammer spread false rumors about the victim’s husband cheating on her, leading to a conflict that caused him to leave. After the victim filmed the shower, the scammer switched tactics and threatened to release the video unless she paid money. Under this threat, the victim sent $1,500, which investigators traced to an international location in Colombia.

This case warns about the changing methods of fraudsters, particularly those involving sextortion and psychological tricks. Law enforcement urges the public to be cautious about video call scams and requests for money under pressure. The authorities recommend that anyone who feels they have been a victim should report this to local law enforcement and stop all communication with the scammers.