Beware of that super friendly woman you meet on Istagram or Facebook or What’s app. She could be a member of a gang targeting people into explicit sexual situations and then demanding money not to expose them on public platforms.
One of the victims on the condition of anonymity said that he got a call from unverified numbers and callers posing as Sub-inspector in Delhi Police, asking him to settle the issue by paying money otherwise compromising pictures or videos will be put on social media platforms.
As per the statistics, sextortion, or extortion using sexual methods, tops the charts in the cybercrime cell of Chandigarh region. In all such cases, stories have emerged of individuals being “lured into recording themselves performing sexual acts” before being blackmailed. The cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) of Chandigarh Police has advised the people to be careful about video calls from unknown numbers.
Talking to ‘The Pioneer’ over the phone, CCIC, Chandigarh, Inspector Hari Om said that the cases of cheating people into indulging in virtual sex and recording them to extort money from them have seen a spike over the last six months and so. “On registered cases, we are investigating by trying to trace the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the accounts in question. We are also trying some additional methods of technical investigation in order to trace and apprehend the accused. Our advice is always to stop paying money as it emboldens them.”
Sources in the CCIC Chandigarh Police said that the number of sextortion (extortion cases using nude pictures) are increasing. There have been a number of incidents and the victims’ list is increasing. But due to shame or social stigma, the victims often do not report the crimes to police, they added.
When contacted, Mohali based cyber expert said that people who often get connected with strangers through social media or even gaming apps are targets of these crimes. It begins with offers of friendship but soon leads to sharing of compromising pictures or videos that are used for blackmail. The victims of such crimes belong to all age groups. Victims of such crimes are unwilling to come forward and report them to the police for fear of embarrassment or disrepute it might bring. However, the best and surest way of bringing such cases under control is to report them to the authorities, he added.
He further said, “The modus operandi of the gangs is to create fake accounts posing as girls on social media platforms and lure men, most of whom were rich with high-profile backgrounds. While posing as girls on social media, the accused took the victims into confidence and insist on starting obscene video chats, which they would then record. Then they blackmail the victims with the recorded videos and extort money from them. The person behind the profile is actually a criminal whose main motive is to extort money from the victim. These fake profiles are deliberately made to look very attractive so that people fall prey to this scam easily, he added.
Constable Rajnish, who posted at Panchkula cybercrime cell, said that the cases of cheating people into indulging in virtual sex and recording them to extort money from them have seen a spike during the last one year. Over a dozen such cases have been reported in Panchkula district. “We have detected a few such cases and found the culprits to be from Rajasthan and the northern belt. Recently, Panchkula police Station, Sector 20 have arrested the person, native of Alwar, Rajasthan involved in sextortion. “We have urged people to report any cybercrime cases at the earliest in order to ease the detection process. Victims can register complaints at local police stations or through toll free number 1930 or website cybercrime.gov.in,” he added.
