60-year-old blackmailed with intimate photos; ₹4 lakh siphoned

On Wednesday morning, the complainant received a message from a woman who wanted to conduct an intimate video call with him.

Mumbai: A 60-year-old man has lost nearly ₹4 lakh after he was approached by a woman on WhatsApp who asked him to have an intimate video call with her. Later, she blackmailed him with his nude videos and extorted around ₹4 lakh.

Police also said that in the past cases reported, it has been observed that in reality no woman member is involved in such sextortion rackets and the accused cleverly use soft porn clips to trap people, giving them the impression that they are watching a woman live on camera. (Image for representation)

On Wednesday morning, the complainant received a message from a woman who wanted to conduct an intimate video call with him. The man – a resident of Grant Road – agreed to the same. However, after the call, he received a recorded clip with the woman.

The woman then demanded money by threatening to upload the video clip on social media and YouTube, said a police officer. Frightened, the complainant sent the money demanded by the woman. The next day, the man received a call from the “Delhi Cyber Cell” who told him that they had seen his video clip on YouTube and under the pretext of taking off the video extracted more money from him.

Later, the fake policemen also told the complainant that the woman with whom he had an intimate conversation had committed suicide and to not register an FIR against him they demanded more money from the complainant, the complaint states.

“The man followed their instructions and deposited more money in the desired bank accounts. However, when they kept on demanding more money, the complainant decided to approach the police and lodged a complaint on Thursday,” said the police officer.

The DB Marg police station is probing the incident. They have written to the service providers seeking details of the bank accounts and SIM cards used in the commission of the crime.

Police also said that in the past cases reported, it has been observed that in reality no woman member is involved in such sextortion rackets and the accused cleverly use soft porn clips to trap people, giving them the impression that they are watching a woman live on camera.

The police have registered a case under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 384 (extortion) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of Information Technology Act.