22 January,2021 07:32 AM IST | Mumbai | Anurag Kamble
One victim paid Rs 1,500, but filed a police plaint fearing he could be blackmailed again. Representation pic
We are only 21 days into the new year and the city has already reported three sextortion cases, all filed within six days. Sextortionists are targeting government officials or rich people based on their profile on social media platforms, police said.
The extortion was rampant during the COVID-19 lockdown, but has cropped up again. However, police say reporting of these cases is important, as such instances usually go unreported due to shame.
A 32-year-old Goods And Services Tax superintendent from Marine Drive, in his police complaint, said he received a message from one Sonia on Facebook on January 7. They started chatting and later exchanged their phone numbers. The superintendent said the woman asked if he would be interested in sex video chat and "he immediately received the video call." "The woman stripped naked and asked me to remove my pants... This went on for a minute and then the call disconnected," he added.
The next morning, around 11 am, the victim received a call from an unknown number. When he answered, a man told him to check his WhatsApp. He had received a video clip of the previous evening. The man threatened to send the clip to his wife, sister and friends if he didn't give '5 lakh.
An FIR in GST superintendent's case was filed at the Marine Drive police station on January 11, when another Marine Drive resident was targeted.
A 21-year-old owner of a tea company had downloaded a dating app, OkCupid, and befriended a girl. After chatting for a few days, she made a WhatsApp video call to him on January 11. She stripped and asked him to get naked, and the man did so, police said. He also received pictures and video of him stripping and going in the bathtub the next day. He immediately filed a complaint.
"The girl asked for money and when I refused, she threatened to upload the video on Instagram and destroy my life," the complainant said in his police statement.
The third case was filed at Agripada police station on January 17. The complainant, who works in a private firm, received a similar video chat. The woman later demanded '30,000, but the 40-year-old victim initially gave only '1,500, said an officer. However, fearing that she might blackmail in the future, he filed a police complaint.
Unmesh Joshi, co-founder of movement âResponsible Netism', said, "This is rampant not only in Mumbai or Maharashtra, but in the entire country. We have come across cases in which influential people have coughed up money in lakhs to sextortionists to avoid any infamy. Through various platforms we should raise awareness about only one thing, upscale your privacy settings and never ever accept video calls or chat requests from unknown people".
Harish Baijal, Deputy Inspector General, Cyber Security, Maharashtra Police, told mid-day, "This trend has been observed across the state. People get attracted to video chat and end up in a difficult situation. We urge citizens not to indulge in such chats or video calls. And if unfortunately they do, they must register a complaint to help nab the culprits".
