Online Fraud in Bhubaneswar: 50-Year-Old Engineer Duped of Rs 25 Lakh By WhatsApp ’Friend’
In another case of sextortion and fraud, a 50-year-old telecom engineer in the city lost his life savings after he was duped of a whopping Rs 25 lakh by an unidentified woman whom he met recently on WhatsApp.
Bhubaneswar, August 2: In another case of sextortion and fraud, a 50-year-old telecom engineer in the city lost his life savings after he was duped of a whopping Rs 25 lakh by an unidentified woman whom he met recently on WhatsApp.
According to TOI, the engineer, who lodged a complaint with the cyber police station here on July 21, said he received a message from an anonymous WhatsApp number that bore the display picture of a woman. They soon started chatting. After a few days, the duo engaged in intimate conversations and reportedly posed naked during a WhatsApp video call, which was recorded by the accused. Online Fraud in Mumbai: 46-Year-Old Man Tries to Order Wine Online, Loses Rs 2.8 Lakh
The next day, the engineer received a call from a man, who introduced himself as a CBI officer from Delhi. The imposter told him that a rape case has been registered against him based on the complaint of the woman with whom he had the intimate video chat. The accused made an offer asking the engineer to pay him Rs 25 lakh to drop the charges against him. Fraud in Mumbai: 2 Borrow Retired BEST Employee’s Phone to Play Games, Dupe Him of Rs 22 Lakh; Accused Arrested
"I initially ignored the call. But the caller kept calling me and threatened to make the video viral on social media. He also threatened to raid my house and arrest me. I was scared and transferred Rs 25 lakh in three installments to an account that was shared by the caller," the engineer said.
When the accused demanded more money, the engineer decided to approach the police. The police said the modus operandi of unidentified cyber criminals is to lure people making them pose naked during video calls. They then blackmail and extort money from them. At least 10 such cases have been registered by the police here in the past two years. "In all such cases the accused posed as a woman, befriended the victims and then solicited nude videos, based on which the victims were then blackmailed. The tricksters used photos of women as their profile pictures, " a police officer said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 02, 2022 07:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).