Sextortion Fraud: Hyderabad Man Blackmailed After Video Call with Woman from Dating App (AI-Generated Image)
Hyderabad: A 25-year-old man fell prey to a sextortion fraud, allegedly after he stripped naked on a video call for a woman he met on a dating app, the police said. The accused lost Rs 1.7 lakh after the accused threatened to leak his private videos, according to a media report. However, the demand for money never stopped. After being frustrated with the blackmail, the victim reached the police station, narrating what had happened.
The victim, a resident of Gachibowli, told the police that he met the girl on a dating app. The profiles of the two matched on August 19, which led to an instant conversation. The woman’s profile was registered as Varsa Rawat. They started talking on Instagram, shifting to WhatsApp later, reported The Times of India.
They became close, and on August 22, they made a video call. During which, a woman suddenly stripped her clothes, forcing the victim to do the same. When it happened, she recorded the screen without telling the victim.
“She accessed my social media contact list and threatened to circulate my intimate footage among friends and relatives unless I paid her money,” the victim alleged.
Following this, the victim transferred Rs 1.7 lakh through multiple transactions. However, the fraudster did not stop there and asked for more money. After this, the victim approached the Cyberabad cybercrime police on Sunday.
The police have registered a case under sections 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 308(2) (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66-D of the Information Technology Act. The police are trying to trace the accused using phone numbers, social media handles, and bank transactions.
