Mahim programmer loses ₹21 lakh in sextortion scam

A Mahim man lost ₹21 lakh in a sextortion scam after being threatened with the release of an obscene video. Police are investigating the case.

Mumbai: A 46-year-old man from Mahim, who works as a programmer in a private firm, allegedly lost ₹21 lakh in a sextortion scam. The fraud had allegedly threatened to defame the complainant by uploading his obscene video on social media and demanded money to take it down.

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The complainant, who lives in Mahim with his parents, wife and two daughters, was surfing Facebook on June 16 when he saw a “friend request” from a woman posing as ‘Poonam Sharma’. He accepted the request and exchanged his mobile number with her and she sent a message, saying she was a schoolteacher in Delhi, and chatted for half an hour.

The complainant further alleged that when he was freshening up in the bathroom, the woman, ‘Poonam Sharma’ video called him and undressed herself in the video and disconnected the call. She then sent a message saying that she had recorded an obscene video with him and uploaded it on social media. The complainant got scared and requested that she not upload the video online. Two days later, he received a call from a person claiming to be Dinesh Kumar, Delhi Cyber Crime Branch.

The fraud allegedly threatened the complainant that his obscene video had gone viral and a case would be registered against him, leading to his arrest. The accused then forced the victim to transfer money to delete the video. On July 3, the accused, who posed as Dinesh Kumar, called him again, saying that Poonam had died by suicide and wrote his name and mobile number in her suicide note and that soon a case would be registered.

The accused said that if he wants to avoid his arrest, then he needs to pay more money as he is required to manage the doctor, the police and the relative of the girl. The complainant kept sending money and paid ₹21.40 lakh in over 20 instalments during June and July.

But when the accused did not stop demanding money, he realised that he was being cheated. The complainant then approached the police, and a case was registered at the Central Cyber police station, police have been investigating, said a police officer of the cyber police station.