Bengaluru, August 21: After receiving a naked woman's WhatsApp video call, a 74-year-old retired government worker lost Rs 35,000 to hackers. He was made to pay and under threat of legal action. The victim, a resident of Yelahanka New Town's KHB Colony, reported the criminals after they demanded Rs 4 lakh from him.

The latter received a WhatsApp video call at 2 am on August 11, 2023. When he attended the call, a woman on the other end was posing nude. The dumbfounded victim asked her who she was, and when he didn't get a satisfactory answer, he ended the call and turned off his phone. Three days later, he got a call from an unidentified number. The caller identified himself as a Delhi police officer dealing with cybercrime.

The caller informed the victim that he had observed a nude woman during the video conversation and that a case had been opened as a result of her complaint. The elderly man attempted to clarify that he had not called the woman on the phone, but the caller claimed that he had been taped. The victim was asked to pay Rs 11,500 in order to avoid arrest. The caller later sought 23,000 rupees. The victim sent Rs 34,500 to the caller's specified bank account.

The victim told the police that he believed the matter would not come up again. But on Wednesday, the same number called him once more. This time, the caller let him know that the woman had committed suicide. The caller said that the reason why she took such drastic measures was because Prashanth had saw her in a naked state.

To get the allegations against him dropped, the caller requested Rs 4 lakh. The victim then made the decision to call the police. The criminal contacted him once again while the latter was at the station, and the station officer answered the call. There have been no additional calls since then.

They were rigged calls. These scammers operate out of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and other states, an official told TOI. Police have opened a case under Information Technology Act case in response to the victim's allegation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2023 10:14 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).