50 Girls Caught in 'Egypt Air' Nude Pics Scam

Scores of young women were reportedly duped into stripping naked online, after responding to a fake job advert for an air hostess career at Egypt Air.

The scam formed part of a brutal extortion racket designed to make cash from blackmailing helpless victims. Victims claim they were caught out after replying to the genuine-looking advert for flight crew.

Throughout the application, would-be hostesses underwent a number of pseudo-interviews before they were asked to partake in a Skype 'medical' test online.

One of the victims spoke on TV and referred to her virtual job interviewer as a woman, who allegedly asked her to undress in front of the camera in order to run a cancer check.

“She started with testing my eyes, teeth and so on, and then she asked me to strip off my clothes, which I refused to do and raised my suspicions, so I directly addressed the ministry,” she said.

The suspect is thought to have extorted up to 15,000 EGP from each of his victims.

Internet Crimes authority chief Mohamed Abdul Wahed said: “One of the clever methods he used to sound believable was to gradually ask for information and make a stop at each phase to announce the successful completion of the application steps. He then asked them to go to Cairo Airport for a medical checkup, which is indeed how the real process takes place. Then comes a suggested option of doing the medical test online instead.”

Police have arrested a man in connection with the racket and seized a computer amid fears that the pictures could have been duplicated for reproduction online. However it is presently unclear whether duplicate copies of the photos were saved elsewhere for republication online, sparking fears of a Jennifer Lawrence style nude pictures leak.

Last month the star, along with almost 100 others had their computers hacked and their private nude pictures leaked online. Internet impersonation and blackmailing are branded as electronic sexual harassment crimes, punishable with a prison sentence of up to a year and a fine of 300 EGP.