Worried parents

I dont want to minimize anything that may be going on here but this seems like an extremely odd blackmail. Im not sure what the blackmailers would have to gain with nothing but video of him in his private room. There are certainly scams involving women taking advantage of men but it usually involves money, getting pregnant or the prospects of going to another country. This "hack" just seems odd. I hate to ask but does your son have a history of paranoia? Thats just the first thing I think of when I read this. If he really is being watched I would think he could just move to a different place or find the cameras or what not. Unless there is some extremely horific or very illegal activity going on in that room I dont see what they have to gain or he has to lose. Ive never heard of this.

    Our son is currently in Ho Chi Minh City and will not leave because he has been hacked and believes is being blackmailed by an ex-girlfriend and a women’s group. He believes that hackers are using cameras in his room to film him to use in some sort of video show.
We need help to get him out of HCMC and eventually home, but he will not leave until he can prove that this is happening to him and can stop the blackmailers sending the videos to his family, friends, employers.
Can you please let us know if you have any knowledge of this sort of thing or suggest how we can prove or disprove this is happening to him. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
   

    -@Worriedparents

Of course I have no way of knowing this for sure and I certainly don't mean to make an accusation, but if I were in your shoes and your shoes were here in Vietnam then I would do everything possible to make sure that the consumption of drugs were not somehow involved.

I'm sure he's probably a very good son and has zero track record of being involved with drugs.

it's just that this would definitely not be the first time that a foreigner came to live here and got introduced to substances that triggered paranoid ideations.

Best wishes and good luck.

@Worriedparents Hi worried parents I can understand your concern for your sons situation. But I can't help wondering if he is experiencing some anxiety which is impacting on capacity to seek help. Just a question has your son ever had any previous anxiety issues.  Kind regards Eileen

Hi again just a suggestion can you visit your son and does he have health travel insurance.

Eileen

@Worriedparents I would get there ASAP to help your son.

sorry, I find this topic hard to believe! How old is your son, what nationality?

He is 42 has had problems with drugs in the past. We were there came home 2 days ago. Yes he does seem paranoid and anxious. But we have been told by some Vietnamese men that there are groups of women who target western men in Vietnam has anyone heard of this? Also there seems to be zero help available for anyone with paranoia and we don't think he is currently taking drugs he doesn't have any money. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

@Worriedparents

you should indeed try to figure out first whether :

a) you son is facing anxiety crisis and maybe paranoid crisis implying drug substance effect even if he has no money...

b) or if something really happened to him and close to what he is describing but including some details he obviously did not want openly to share with you and which could explain why a blackmail could be actually performed on him (did he shared nudes? did he something illegal in his room ? Was he in touch with mafia or hookers ? ) Because, honestly, in absence of anything illegal or sexually oriented, nobody cares about what is happening inside a dude bedroom ... even if he was naked western boy . In that case, you should tell him to calm down and go to see a therapist

Even if his story seems weird, I would not reject by principle though  :

1) a lot of vietnamese "drama" scenarii nowaday imply people being blackmailed through sex video record and leveling shaming and typical "face loose" here ... that seems a very common scenario of dramas here for a strange reason... If it is so popular in drama  I would not be surprised to see this happening in real life

2)  it seems more and more common in Asia and particularly in Korea (which influences Vietnam a lot) that weird people use micro/ultra tiny camera to record people in bedroom, bathroom etc... More and more cases reported so that korean women have to proceed a camera / wall and furniture sanity check in airbnb or public restrooms... turning off wifi device in airbnb...very sad but that's true. But honestly women are more targeted than men...

3) my vietnamese gf explained me locals have a weird habit and naughty interrest in recording people with smartphone and then to post on social media in order to get "easy views" and being "popular" as soon as they see "by chance" what is considered as a shaming situation (quite naked neighboor in opposite appartment, people having sex in front of open window , ultra tiny skirt in stairs , people having a huge and naughty French kiss in public ... ).  most of time it is recording "by opportunities" not hacking

4) the only think I heard about western men being quite "targeted" is about some specific group on Facebook created by Vietnamese women to post and share identity and personnal data of western boyfriend to check "wether" they are dating other girls in a same time... or for "official girlfriend" and check to track bf loyalty because western guys in Vietnam are famous to be "playboy" and abuse of "western priviledge" to date a lot of girls... Saddly thoses group are also used to "shame" them posting illegally their pictures and personnal data as a retaliation after breaking up etc  ...

@Worriedparents

Hello worriedparents,

Sorry to hear about this whole situation ! What an ordeal!

I suggest that you contact your embassy and find out what can be done for your son.

Unfortunately, I don't think that Expat.com and our members can do much for you and we wouldn't want our members to take any risks.

I am therefore closing this thread, please contact your embassy.

Regards

Bhavna

[Topic Closed]