A new kind of scam has come to the fore in which digital extortionists are hacking into the social media accounts of aspiring actors, actresses and models after sending them dubious links and demanding money to give them access to their own accounts.

A 30-year-old model and actress, Vidya Prasad, was recently targeted in this manner and she filed a complaint in this regard at the Versova police station on Friday. According to police sources, someone hacked her Instagram account on February 20. The individual then demanded Rs 50,000 to enable her to re-open the account.