A sexual predator who targeted mostly Muslim males online for blackmail has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, with detectives suspecting he may have as many as 70 additional victims.
Campaign of Entrapment
Waleed Saeed’s six-year campaign of entrapment, threats, and extortion began in 2018, leaving one victim feeling suicidal due to the humiliation he endured. Police stated that the 31-year-old deliberately targeted individuals from culturally conservative backgrounds to exploit any shame they might experience.
Detectives believe Saeed typically posed as a young woman or a transgender woman using fake online profiles, encouraging his targets to send intimate images. He would then reveal his true identity as a man and demand hundreds of pounds, often threatening to expose the victims to their families, communities, universities, workplaces, and friends. In one instance, he actually sent compromising images to someone known to his victim.
Arrest and Conviction
Saeed, from Ilford in east London, was apprehended in 2024 after coercing a victim to meet him in an east London park, where he wore a balaclava and raped and sexually assaulted him. He was found guilty in March and sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday for 17 offences against five males, including one count of rape, blackmail, and making indecent images of children.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police believe Saeed had many more victims, ranging from their mid-teens to their 20s. Searches of his electronic devices uncovered scores of pictures of men, leading investigators to estimate there may be 50 to 70 additional victims. Some remain unidentified because the police only have intimate images that do not show faces, or usernames that are not the real names of those targeted.
Wider Investigation
Detectives also reviewed details of similar unsolved or closed cases and found 24 where the offending patterns were sufficiently alike to suggest Saeed may be a suspect. They believe the potential number of further victims could range from the 70s to the 90s. In total, he was sentenced for targeting five victims, two of whom were teenagers aged 15 and 17.
His victims told the court of their anguish. One said: “I felt trapped and lost,” adding that Saeed had taken his virginity. The victim paid more than £3,600 in total, fearing family and friends would ostracise him if they found out. He added: “The shame I felt by letting this happen to me is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life.”
Police Appeal
Detective Constable Peter Collington of the Metropolitan Police, who is leading the investigation into Saeed, said: “Our investigation has led us to believe that the true scale of his offending is likely to be significantly wider.”
“The pattern of offending we have uncovered is deeply disturbing and shows a level of deliberate manipulation and cruelty that has caused immense harm to innocent men, with two of them being just 15 and 17 at the time.”
“We know Saeed began offending in 2018, deliberately targeting young men from south Asian and Muslim backgrounds on the impression that these victim-survivors would be less likely to contact police. As part of our investigation, we’ve wrapped dedicated support around those who have already come forward.”
Collington urged those who believe they may have been victims of Saeed’s sextortion to contact police, promising officers would handle their cases with sensitivity, with the aim of bringing new charges against Saeed. “Following his sentence, I am making a direct appeal to other victim-survivors who may not have had the confidence to come forward, to please contact us. I want to say this clearly to potential victims out there: that what has happened to you was not your fault,” he said.
“We want to be absolutely clear that no one should ever have their sexuality exploited or weaponised against them in this way. You will be treated with compassion, sensitivity and absolute confidentiality. What has been done to you is wrong, and we will do everything in our power to support you.”
Modus Operandi
Saeed would lure his victims by scouring Snapchat, Grindr, and Twitter, using an array of usernames such as “Trans Girl Leah”, “amzyyyy09.”, “blsup” and “ComeDeal”. Police say he was relentless, using 100 online aliases, with victims believed to be in London and across the UK.
His arrest came after he raped an 18-year-old man in a London park in August 2024. The victim said they had swapped sexual images with someone they believed to be a transgender woman. A different account then sent messages from a man demanding money, threatening to release the explicit photos otherwise.
The victim said they could not pay, and Saeed coerced him into meeting in person, threatening to release the photos if he refused. They met three times late at night, where Saeed sexually assaulted and raped the victim. To hide his identity, Saeed wore a balaclava, which was found at his Ilford home when police arrested him three months later.
The rape victim went to police, who examined data from social media accounts used by Saeed to track him down, leading to his arrest in November 2024. Two mobile phones discovered at Saeed’s address contained the social media accounts used to target victims. The devices also showed further victims, as yet unidentified, including some police believe were children.
Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting 5335/18JUNE2026.
