He demanded Rs 5 lakh to stop uploading her pictures; he had sent her a phishing mail to get details of her email, Facebook, Instagram and iCloud accounts
A 17-year-old boy was arrested yesterday, for hacking into the Facebook profile of a daily soap actress, and posting her personal photographs on social media. Cops said that the accused had also demanded R5 lakh from her to stop uploading more photographs.
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Police said the accused had come to Mumbai from Chhattisgarh just five months ago, in search of a job, and to continue his studies. Police said he has studied upto Std XII and, while staying with a relative, he became net savvy. The accused decided to make a quick buck, and hatched a plan to extort money from a prominent TV actress.
The minor sent a phishing mail to the victim and hacked her Gmail, Facebook, Instagram and iCloud accounts, and got her WhatsApp number. Using personal details, the accused hacked into the victim’s accounts. He also changed the passwords of her accounts so she could not get back into them. Later the boy started sending her personal pictures that he had downloaded from her Facebook, etc, and threatened to circulate them on social media if she did not pay him Rs 5 lakh.
The police received the complaint from the actress on December 25, and in her statement she said that the accused had been messaging her since December 16. They have booked him under Section 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion) of the IPC and the IT Act 66 (a) (b) (sending offensive messages).
Cops said the minor had given a bank account number to the victim to deposit the money. The account was with State Bank of India in a Chhattisgarh branch. The WhatsApp mobile number from which he used to send her photos and messages was from Rajasthan. As the accused is a minor, the police could not arrest him and he has been sent to the children’s home in Dongri.
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