E-Paper
Panchkula man loses ₹3.91 lakh to sextortion scam
The complainant, Rajinder Kumar, a resident of Sector 27, Panchkula, said on April 7, he received a video call on WhatsApp and as he answered it, a nude woman was on the other side, so he immediately disconnected the call
A 51-year-old Panchkula resident lost ₹3.91 lakh after he fell prey to a sextortion scam in April, police said on Friday.
The complainant, Rajinder Kumar, a resident of Sector 27, said on April 7, he received a video call on WhatsApp and as he answered it, a nude woman was on the other side, so he immediately disconnected the call.
On April 10, a man claiming be a cop from the Delhi crime branch told him that his video with a nude woman was being circulated online and asked him to call a YouTuber to get it removed. On calling the given phone number, the man sought ₹17,980 to get the job done.
Rajinder said after he paid, the YouTuber said the video had been uploaded on various social media sites and he would need to pay ₹35,960 more. Alarming him more through repeated phone calls, the YouTube took ₹3.91 lakh in all from him.
On April 12, a cop claiming to be from the Jaipur crime branch called him, informing that the woman in the video call had ended her life and her family is asking ₹3 lakh for compromise.
Realising that he had been defrauded, he approached the police, who have registered a case under Sections 406, 420, 384 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code at the cyber police station in Sector 12, Panchkula.
