RIYADH, 25 October 2007 — A desperate young Saudi man looking for girls to hook up with on Internet chat rooms got a 101 course in scam, robbery, and blackmail, when a gang of Saudi teenagers who portrayed themselves as females lured him into a trap, Riyadh Police announced yesterday.

According to the police, the young Saudi chatted with a guy on the Internet who was masquerading as a girl in need of some quick cash. In return, of course, the man was promised an unforgettable time and an erotic experience he would not forget.

The gang had arranged a time and date for the rendezvous to take place as the man was told to come to the girl’s apartment. Instead of finding a beautiful girl waiting for him at the door, he found himself surrounded by Saudi teenagers who forced him to give up his wallet, stole his ATM cards, and even requested under threat that he provide them with the PIN numbers so they could withdraw money from the accounts. The man, all humiliated and broke, had to walk back home before reporting the incident to the police because the gang had even taken his car keys.

The gang of teenagers specialized in changing their voices and narrating fantasy erotic tales to desperate young men to trick their victims to come over to a house where the victim would then be given an ultimatum: His life or his money.

Riyadh Police were able to track down the Internet gang after setting an ambush for them and arrested them while in the act. The police said the five members of the gang were all teenagers who were under 18.

“Victims of these scams more often keep their bad experiences to themselves and do not report them. But this victim did,” said a spokesperson for Riyadh police.

The Natheem Police Department said that it had received various reports of such scams from different victims. The teenagers are in currently in police custody.