A man who ran a massive online extortion campaign targeting young Muslim men and teenagers has been jailed for 16 years, a court heard he used more than 100 fake social media accounts to obtain intimate photos and sexually exploit his victims.Waleed Saeed, 31, a British-born man of Somali descent, was found guilty and sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 17 charges including rape, attempted rape, blackmail and taking indecent images of children, the BBC reported.The court heard Syed spent years creating false identities on social media and dating platforms, using them to contact young people across the UK. After gaining the victim’s trust, he convinced the victim to send intimate photos and videos and then threatened to reveal the material to family and friends.Prosecutors said many of the targets were young Muslim men and teenagers who feared the consequences of their sexual orientation being known within their families or communities.In some cases, Said asked for funds to keep the images private. When victims were unable to comply with his demands, he would use the threat of exposure to maintain control over them, sometimes arranging face-to-face meetings that resulted in sexual offences.The case came to light in August 2024 when an 18-year-old reported being raped in a London park. Investigators later discovered a broader pattern of crimes that stretched back several years.Police tracked Syed through evidence discovered during the investigation and seized mobile phones containing intimate images relating to numerous victims, including children.Earlier this year, Saeed pleaded guilty to several offences, including blackmail-related charges and making indecent images of children. A jury later found him guilty of other charges, including rape, attempted rape and other extortion charges.Judge Green said in sentencing that Syed deliberately exploited his victims’ fear of exposure.“You exploited the fact that cultural issues made them particularly vulnerable to the threat of exposure,” the judge told him.The Metropolitan Police believe the scale of the crime may be far greater than the cases already heard in court. Detectives are currently examining approximately 100 additional potential victims in connection with Saeed’s activities.
