• Singapore police tell webcam users: Keep your clothes on; it's a scam

    By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

    Police in Singapore have warned men to be more careful about whom they talk to over webcams, reporting an alarming increase in the number of men who've been lured into nude conversations with "foreign" women, only to be blackmailed with video-chat recordings.


    In terms of sheer numbers, the increase isn't much — from 11 in 2011 to more than 50 last year — but it suggests a burgeoning scam that could ensnare many more men in the future, the national police force said in a bulletin that was first reported by Singapore's Straits Times newspaper.

    Police singled out Facebook and Tagged as especially popular vehicles for the extortion scheme, in which "female foreign suspects ... would commence a webcam conversation with the victims and initiate cybersex by undressing themselves first before persuading the male victims to appear nude or perform sexual acts in front of the webcams."

    "Unknown to the victims, the suspects had recorded the acts," police said. "These suspects would then threaten to circulate compromising photographs and videos of the victims to extort money from them."

    The spike in cases was first noted halfway through last year, leading CrimeWatch, a joint program of the national police and the National Crime Prevention Council, to "re-create" the scam in a (safe for work but entertainingly cheesy) video in June:

    In a video titled "Blinded by love, she acted in a moment of folly," Singapore police and the National Crime Prevention Council re-enacted a cybersex extortion case last year.

    Graham Cluley, a consultant with the Internet security firm Sophos,  reported the bulletin Monday on the company's appropriately named Naked Security blog and warned of another potential hazard:

    "You can imagine how a man, believing he is being seduced online by a sexy woman, might be all too eager to click on a link she suggests or run a malicious program on his computer. Before he knows it, his computer could be under the control of a hacker."

    Police offered these tips to keep your money in your wallet:

    • Be wary of messages from unknown people who want to befriend you.
    • Do not accede to any request that may put you in vulnerable positions, such as performing compromising acts in front of a webcam or giving personal details about yourself when interacting with other Internet users.
    • If anyone attempts to extort money from you or should you become a victim of such an attempt, call the police immediately.
    • Do not remit or transfer money.

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  • Cops: Driver plows into tourists, goes on deadly stabbing spree in upscale Guam shopping area

    By Audrey McAvoy, The Associated Press

    A man accused of killing two Japanese visitors and injuring a dozen others after crashing his car and stabbing people in a major tourist district in Guam has been arrested and faces multiple charges, police said Wednesday.

    Chad Ryan DeSoto, 21, of Tamuning is accused of driving a Toyota Yaris onto a sidewalk and striking seven tourists Tuesday night at an upscale shopping area fronting the Outrigger Guam Resort in Tumon Bay, Guam police spokesman A.J. Balajadia said. DeSoto continued driving on the sidewalk, crashing into the wall of a convenience store. He then left his car and started stabbing people, police said.

    DeSoto is charged with two counts of murder, 13 counts of attempted murder and 13 counts of aggravated assault, Balajadia said. No motive or other details on the investigation were released.

    DeSoto was scheduled due to appear before a magistrate judge at the Superior Court of Guam on Wednesday to be formally charged.

    Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said 14 Japanese tourists were attacked, including two who died. Two of the injured have been released from the hospital after being treated, Suga said.

    Japanese media reported the dead were two women aged 28 and 82 and the survivors included an 8-month-old baby.

    An official with Japanese travel operator H.I.S. Co. said eight of its customers were injured in the attack -- including some with broken bones -- but none was killed.

    The wreck and alleged knife attack among high-end boutiques and hotels in Tumon Bay's Pleasure Island district sent frightened hotel guests and others fleeing for safety.

    A woman at a nearby café with friends told the Pacific Daily News she saw the car plow through the driveway and into a convenience store at the resort. Ashley Quichocho, 18, of Dededo said the driver got out, ran up to bystanders and began stabbing them.

    "He started stabbing someone, and I started freaking out," Quichocho said. "He was just running back and forth stabbing people."

    Quichocho said she ran to the second floor of the hotel with other guests to escape.

    Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo issued a statement addressed to "the people of Japan" saying the perpetrator would be prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law." Calvo said he would increase the police presence in the visitor district.

    "This was an isolated incident -- something that just doesn't happen in our community," Calvo said. "We are shocked, we are grieving with the families, and we extend our deepest condolences to those hurt."

    Guam, a U.S. territory and tropical island 1,500 miles south of Tokyo, is heavily dependent on tourism -- particularly from Japan -- for its economy.

    The island has a population of about 180,000 and is home to major U.S. naval and air bases. The U.S. has plans to move several thousand Marines to Guam from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Masked men burst into vacation home, rape six Spanish tourists in Acapulco, Mexican officials say

    Bernandino Hernandez / AP

    Police patrol on the beach near a home in Acapulco, Mexico, where masked and armed men broke in and raped six tourists.

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A gang of masked men entered a vacation home near the resort city of Acapulco and raped six Spanish tourists, Mexican authorities said Tuesday.

    The assailants, brandishing guns, first tied up the men with phone cords and the straps of bathing suits and then raped the women, The Associated Press reported.


    A police report, obtained by Prensa Latina, a Cuba-based Latin American news service, said that 15 subjects with ski masks sexually abused the Spanish women, and also stole the belongings of a Mexican national and six Spanish men. 

    The assault took place Monday in the town of San Andres, Barra Vieja, in the Diamante area of Acapulco.

    Acapulco Mayor Luis Walton and the state prosecutor for Guerroro said Mexican federal police were involved in the hunt for those responsible, CNN reported.

    "It's a very delicate situation," Walton said at a news conference on Tuesday in which he condemned the attacks. "We are going to have the full weight of the law against those responsible."

    Walton admitted the attacks would likely tarnish Acapulco’s image. The Pacific Coast resort city and its beaches are a popular destination for tourists, including American college students on spring break.

    Though the number of rapes in the area is unclear, in one weekend in March 2010, at least 13 people were killed in and around Acapulco in apparent drug-gang violence, including four victims found beheaded. And, according to Reuters, some 70,000 people nationwide have been killed in drug-related violence since 2006.

    Though millions of people travel to Mexico each year without incident, the U.S. State Department has issued a warning to travelers visiting the country. It says travelers to Mexico should be aware that “crime and violence are serious problems throughout the country and occur anywhere." Travelers to the Acapulco area are urged to exercise caution and stay within tourist areas. 

     

  • Belgian who imprisoned, murdered girls seeks early release

    Francois Lenoir / Reuters

    Belgian child murderer Marc Dutroux (C), whose crimes horrified Belgium in the 1990s, is escorted by police officers at the Palace of Justice in Brussels on Monday.

    By Ben Deighton, Reuters

    BRUSSELS — Belgium's most notorious killer launched a bid for early release on Monday, despite little chance of getting parole.

    Marc Dutroux, who was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of six girls and the murder of four of them in the 1990s, put his case to judges in a closed-door hearing in Brussels.

    The case touches a nerve in Belgium because of the horrific nature of the murders, and the fact that Belgian police visited one of Dutroux's houses while two victims, both eight years old, were being held there without finding them. The two subsequently starved to death in a makeshift dungeon.


    Under Belgian law, criminals can be freed after serving a third of their sentences, or after 15 years in the case of those who have received life, a perpetual sentence in Belgium.

    However, thousands of protesters called for tougher rules on convicts when Dutroux's ex-wife was granted conditional freedom last year and moved to a convent. She had to request parole several times before it was granted.

    Before Monday's hearing, armed police placed razor wire barriers along the side of the courtroom, an unusual security measure in Belgium. Officials also erected a metal detector across the center of Belgium's main courthouse.

    Dutroux, who was arrested in 1996, was sentenced to life in 2004. He served two extra years under a separate charge, meaning he is free to request early release this year.

    The court will discuss Dutroux's request with prison officials, and issue its judgement during a public hearing on Feb. 18, although it is not clear if Dutroux will attend.

    "The decision of the tribunal will be delivered in a public audience here," Luc Hennaert, court president told reporters after the hearing.

  • Alleged Bulgarian crime boss 'The Beret' shot outside court

    Gergana Kostadinova / EPA

    Guards carry the wounded Zlatomir Ivanov after he was shot in front of the City Court in Sofia, Bulgaria on Jan. 29, 2013.

    Stoyan Nenov / Reuters

    An investigator works at the crime scene where Zlatomir Ivanov was shot in downtown Sofia on Jan. 29, 2013.

    An unidentified gunman shot and wounded a suspected Bulgarian crime boss nicknamed "The Beret," the latest blow to the center-right government's efforts to restore the rule of law and improve the Balkan country's image.

    Zlatomir Ivanov was shot four times in his legs, arm and stomach as he was about to enter the central court building in broad daylight. He and his bodyguard, who was also wounded, were taken to hospital.

    The shots were thought to have come from an apartment across the street from the court building.

    -- Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency

     

  • Cleaner steals train in Sweden, crashes into house, official says

    Jonas Ekstromer / Scanpix Sweden via Reuters

    Police officers stand around a local train that derailed and crashed into a residential building in Saltsjobaden outside Stockholm on Jan. 15, 2013.

    Reuters reports — A cleaning lady allegedly stole a Swedish train and drove it off the end of the tracks and smashed into a house outside Stockholm on Tuesday.

    It was not clear how the woman, around 20, got access to the key needed to start the train. She was taken to hospital with serious injuries, but the train was carrying no other passengers as it was in the early hours and no one in the house was hurt.

    A train cleaner was injured after police say she stole a train and crashed it into a house in Sweden. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    "The cleaner drove the train at high speed, considerably higher than normal on that stretch, to where the rails end and crashed into a house," said Jesper Pettersson, spokesman at Stockholm Public Transport (SL).

    The train ploughed past the end of the line and vaulted over a street separating the house from the depot, crashing through a balcony and into a downstairs room in the upscale suburb of Saltsjobaden. SL and police were investigating how she had gained access to the cabin and been able to drive the train.

     

  • Cat caught smuggling contraband into Brazil prison

    Penitentiary System Of Alagoas / AFP - Getty Images

    Brazilian authorities captured a cat that was entering a prison with a saw, bits for hand drills, a mobile phone, batteries and charger. The cat belonged to the prisoners and was frequently taken by relatives to their homes, returning to the prison on its own.

    By Isolde Raftery, NBC News

    The cat came back, it just couldn’t stay away.


    And when it did come back on New Year’s Eve, a guard standing watch at a prison gate in northeastern Brazil thought there was something unusual about the slender white kitty slipping by.  

    He alerted other guards who helped him to catch the feline, according to a statement by the federal prisons bureau, and they found that the cat’s torso was wrapped tight with contraband.

    Specifically: Two small saws, two drills for concrete, a headset, a cell phone, a cell phone charger and three batteries.

    PhotoBlog: Cat caught carrying contraband

    The confiscated material could have allowed inmates to cut bars and dig tunnels, according to the statement, while allowing them to communicate with people on the outside. The cat, it appeared, belonged to the inmates and traveled between the prison and the homes of the inmates' families, who live in the area.

    All 263 inmates at the Arapiraca prison are deemed suspects because, a prison spokeswoman told the Estado de Sao Paulo: “It will be hard to figure out who is responsible, as the cat does not talk.”

    The spokeswoman said it was the first time a cat tried to smuggle in contraband since the prison was built in 2002.

    The newspaper said the cat was not held at the prison and was instead transferred to the city’s animal shelter for veterinary care. 

    A cat slipped into a prison in Brazil but was intercepted by prison officials, who found a drill and saw taped to its body. TODAY's Jenna Wolfe reports.

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  • UK police: Attackers dressed as Oompa Loompas beat man

    By Rachel Elbaum, NBC News

    Police in Britain are on the hunt for a group of four people, two of whom were dressed as Oompa Loompas from the movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," after a man was attacked outside a supermarket in Norwich, police said in a statement.


    Two of the males in the group of three men and a woman had orange painted faces and dyed green hair like the fictional characters in the movie, who work in the chocolate factory.

    The man who was attacked had just come out of a kebab house next to a supermarket early Thursday morning around 3:30 a.m. (10:30 p.m. ET Wednesday) when the group approached him, police said.

    One of the attackers pushed the man to the floor. He then got up, was hit on the head, fell to the floor and got hit again.

    The attack left the man with a cut below his right eye, two black eyes, a small cut to the nose and a cut lip, police said.

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  • India charges six suspects with murder after victim of horrific gang rape dies

    A 23-year-old medical student who was raped and attacked on a city bus in New Delhi has died, resulting in charges against six men. Even before she died, her savage attack triggered mass protests about treatment of women. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.

    By NBC News wire services

    NEW DELHI -- Six suspects held in connection with the rape of a woman in India have been charged with murder after she died on Saturday of injuries sustained in the attack, police said.

    "They have been charged (with murder)," said Rajan Bhagat, a spokesman for New Delhi police.

    The woman, who was gang-raped on a New Delhi bus on December 16, died in a hospital in Singapore. The attack has sparked protests and a national debate about violence against women.

    The suspects in the rape -- five men aged between 20 and 40, and a juvenile -- were arrested within hours of the attack.

    Many Indians have called for the death penalty for those responsible.

    Rafiq Maqbool / AP

    Indians hold placards during a gathering to mourn the death of a 23-year-old gang rape victim in Mumbai, India, on Saturday.

    India gang-rape victim dies in hospital; case focused attention on sexual violence

    Bracing for a new wave of protests, Indian authorities closed 10 metro stations and banned vehicles from some main roads in the heart of New Delhi, where demonstrators have converged since the attack to demand improved women's rights. About 100 people staged a peaceful protest on Saturday morning.


    The 23-year-old medical student, severely beaten, raped and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi two weeks ago, had been flown to Singapore in a critical condition by the Indian government on Thursday for specialist treatment.

    Her body arrived back in India in the early hours of Sunday morning and cremation services almost immediately began, police sources told the Agence France-Presse.

    The attack has sparked an intense national debate for the first time about the treatment of women and attitudes toward sex crimes in a country where most rapes go unreported, many offenders go unpunished and the wheels of justice turn slowly, according to social activists.

    "We are very sad to report that the patient passed away peacefully at 4:45 a.m. on Dec 29, 2012 (3:45 p.m. ET Friday). Her family and officials from the High Commission (embassy) of India were by her side," Mount Elizabeth Hospital Chief Executive Officer Kelvin Loh said in a statement.

    The 23-year-old who was gang-raped in New Delhi and thrown from a bus has died from her injuries in Singapore, where she was being treated. NBC's Natalie Morales reports.

    Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was deeply saddened by the death and described the emotions associated with her case as "perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change.

    "It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channelize these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action," Singh said in a statement.

    The woman, who has not been identified, and a male friend were returning home from the cinema by bus on the evening of December 16 when, media reports say, six men on the bus beat them with metal rods and repeatedly raped the woman. The male friend survived the attack.

    Body to be returned home
    T.C.A. Raghavan, the Indian high commissioner to Singapore, told reporters hours after the woman's death that a chartered aircraft would fly her body back to India on Saturday, along with members of her family. The woman's body had earlier been put into a van at the hospital and driven away.

    PhotoBlog: Police try to temper outrage over gang rape

    Indian media had also accused the government of sending her to Singapore to minimize any backlash in the event of her death but Raghavan said it had been a medical decision intended to ensure she got the best treatment.

    "She was unconscious throughout," Raghavan said of her time in Singapore. "She died because of the severe nature of the injuries."

    Some Indian medical experts had questioned the decision to fly the woman to Singapore, calling it a risky maneuver given the severity of her injuries. They had said she was already receiving the best possible care in India.

    On Friday, the Singapore hospital had said the woman's condition had taken a turn for the worse and she had suffered "significant brain injury." She had already undergone three abdominal operations before arriving in Singapore.

    Ajit Solanki / AP

    Indian schoolgirls hold placards during a prayer ceremony to mourn the death of a 23-year-old gang rape victim, at a school in Ahmadabad, India, on Saturday.

    Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told Times Now television on Saturday the government was committed to ensuring "the severest possible punishment to all the accused at the earliest."

    "It will not go in vain. We will give maximum punishment to the culprits. Not only to this, but in future also. This one incident has given a greater lesson," Shinde said.

    He said earlier the government was considering the death penalty for rape in very rare cases. Murder carries the death penalty.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • China bust nabs nearly 200 pounds of meth

     

    Chinese police seized nearly 200 pounds of drugs and arrested eight suspects in a case involving gang members. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

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  • Fury, anguish after hours-long gang-rape in India

    Altaf Qadri / AP

    An Indian protester argues with a police officer outside the Delhi Police headquarters as they block a main road during a protest in New Delhi, India, on Dec. 19. The hours-long gang-rape and near fatal beating of a 23-year-old physical therapy student in a bus in New Delhi triggered outrage and anger across the country Wednesday as Indians demanded action from authorities who have long ignored persistent violence and harassment against women.

    Tempers flared on Wednesday as Indians demanded authorities take action to stop violence against women, according to The Associated Press. In the latest case, a 23-year-old physical therapy student was gang-raped for hours and nearly beaten to death on a bus.  Agence France-Presse reports,

    Indian police arrested the driver of a bus a day after a student was gang-raped and thrown out of the vehicle, reports said, in an attack that has sparked fresh concern for women's safety in New Delhi on Dec. 17. The attack sparked new calls for greater security for women in New Delhi, which registered 568 rapes in 2011 compared with 218 in India's financial capital Mumbai the same year.

    Sajjad Hussain / AFP - Getty Images

    Indian students and activists carry placards at India Gate during a protest following the gang-rape of a student in New Delhi on Dec. 19.

    Saurabh Das / AP

    Indian people shout slogans as they stage a rally near India Gate to demand capital punishment for rapists during a candle light vigil in New Delhi, India, on Dec. 19.

    Sajjad Hussain / AFP - Getty Images

    Indian students and activists carry candles at India Gate during a protest following the gang-rape of a student in New Delhi on Dec. 19. Indian police on Dec. 17 arrested the driver of a bus a day after a student was gang-raped and thrown out of the vehicle, reports said, in an attack that has sparked fresh concern for women's safety in New Delhi. The attack sparked new calls for greater security for women in New Delhi, which registered 568 rapes in 2011 compared with 218 in India's financial capital Mumbai the same year.

    Protesters in India are calling for the execution of several men accused of raping a young woman on a moving bus. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

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  • US-born heiress clutching a cocaine pipe when found dead in London home, coroner says

    Dave Benett / Getty, file

    Eva Rausing and her husband Hans Kristian Rausing appear at an event in 2010.

    By Reuters

    LONDON -- The American wife of one of Britain's richest men, whose body lay rotting at their London home for two months after her death, died from cocaine abuse, a coroner said Friday.

    Eva Rausing, whose husband Hans is heir to a fortune from the Swedish packaging firm Tetra Pak, was found in July in an advanced state of decomposition under layers of clothes and garbage bags in a fly-infested room on the second floor of their six-story townhouse in an upmarket area of London.


    The 48-year-old's body was only discovered after police officers went to their house after stopping her husband for driving erratically.

    Multi-millionaire Rausing pleads guilty to preventing US-born wife's burial

    She was found holding a silver foil, which had been rolled up as a pipe, indicating it had been used for smoking cocaine. A post-mortem established that she had died more than two months earlier in May.

    Deputy coroner Shirley Radcliffe ruled that Rausing, who suffered from the heart condition tricuspid valve disease and had had a pacemaker fitted, had died from cocaine intoxication.

    Husband 'devastated'
    Hans Rausing, who was given a suspended 10-month jail sentence in August for preventing the "lawful and decent" burial of his wife, said he had not been able to deal with losing her.

    "I'm devastated by my beloved wife's death," he said in a statement read to Westminster Coroners' Court. "I could not cope with her dying or confront the reality of her death."

    He said he had been in the bathroom shaving when he heard her slide off the bed.

    Police struggle to shed light on US-born heiress' death

    "She landed sideways and her head was resting on a pillow. I tried to pull her up. I shouted 'Eva, Eva, Eva,'" he said, before covering her body with blankets and bedding.

    The couple, who have four children, had a long history of problems with drugs. They first met at a U.S. rehabilitation center and gave generously to addiction treatment centers.

    Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com

    Eva Rausing's family has said it believed she turned to drugs in her late teens to overcome acute shyness.

    The Swedish Rausing family made a fortune by building up the Tetra Pak drinks packaging business, but Hans' father sold his share of it to his brother in the 1990s, and is now worth an estimated $10 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

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