NEW DELHI : Sixty-nine-year-old Rakesh Singh (name changed), a south Delhi resident, seldom received any phone calls. So, he was pleasantly surprised when he received a video call on WhatsApp one night. On the other side was a ‘lonely, young woman’ looking to make a friend. What followed was an intense exchange of “video sexting”, which involved them stripping over the calls. The woman then disappeared for a day or two, leaving Singh anxious and waiting.
However, to his shock, he received a call two days later from the woman’s kin claiming she had been murdered. Recordings of his chats had also been uploaded on Instagram and YouTube. That was not all. A “crime branch” and a “cyber cell” cop were next to come into the scene. What followed was a harrowing few weeks during which the crooks extorted around Rs 16 lakh from the victim in lieu of taking his name off the case and removing his video from social networking sites.
Harassed and on the verge of a breakdown, the victim approached the police for help. The cops have initiated a probe and are trying to track down the perpetrators. During initial inquiry, the cops have found that the national cyber crime reporting portal was flooded with similar complaints indicating that an organised gang of ‘sextortionists’ was at play and has extorted money from many people across the country.
The current case pertaining to Singh had begun on October 10. In his complaint, Singh said that he was about to sleep when he received a video call on WhatsApp around 10pm. A woman on the other side had a brief, random conversation and hung up.
“She called again and was taking off her clothes. She asked me to take off my clothes as well and have video sex with her but I refused. She then hung up abruptly only to call again. This time I gave in,” the victim said. The calls suddenly stopped after the victim took off his clothes.
The victim next received a call from a man claiming the woman he had been sexting with had been murdered and they suspected Singh was behind the murder. He was informed that his videos had been uploaded on YouTube and other social networking sites. To substantiate their claim, the crooks sent him one of his videos on WhatsApp.
The gang then demanded money in lieu of removing the videos and made Singh transfer money a couple of times. Worried about his social prestige and reputation, the victim transferred money into their accounts.
To add to the victim’s woes, one of the crooks posing as a policeman contacted him to inform that his name was being added to the “murder FIR”. The suspects then extorted more money through RTGS and NEFT transfers into various bank accounts by putting the victim in fear of arrest.
The accused also claimed the signature of a Delhi Police ACP was required to close the case against him and fired him to transfer a few more lakhs. This was when the victim, who had lost all his savings, approached police for help.
However, to his shock, he received a call two days later from the woman’s kin claiming she had been murdered. Recordings of his chats had also been uploaded on Instagram and YouTube. That was not all. A “crime branch” and a “cyber cell” cop were next to come into the scene. What followed was a harrowing few weeks during which the crooks extorted around Rs 16 lakh from the victim in lieu of taking his name off the case and removing his video from social networking sites.
Harassed and on the verge of a breakdown, the victim approached the police for help. The cops have initiated a probe and are trying to track down the perpetrators. During initial inquiry, the cops have found that the national cyber crime reporting portal was flooded with similar complaints indicating that an organised gang of ‘sextortionists’ was at play and has extorted money from many people across the country.
The current case pertaining to Singh had begun on October 10. In his complaint, Singh said that he was about to sleep when he received a video call on WhatsApp around 10pm. A woman on the other side had a brief, random conversation and hung up.
“She called again and was taking off her clothes. She asked me to take off my clothes as well and have video sex with her but I refused. She then hung up abruptly only to call again. This time I gave in,” the victim said. The calls suddenly stopped after the victim took off his clothes.
The victim next received a call from a man claiming the woman he had been sexting with had been murdered and they suspected Singh was behind the murder. He was informed that his videos had been uploaded on YouTube and other social networking sites. To substantiate their claim, the crooks sent him one of his videos on WhatsApp.
The gang then demanded money in lieu of removing the videos and made Singh transfer money a couple of times. Worried about his social prestige and reputation, the victim transferred money into their accounts.
To add to the victim’s woes, one of the crooks posing as a policeman contacted him to inform that his name was being added to the “murder FIR”. The suspects then extorted more money through RTGS and NEFT transfers into various bank accounts by putting the victim in fear of arrest.
The accused also claimed the signature of a Delhi Police ACP was required to close the case against him and fired him to transfer a few more lakhs. This was when the victim, who had lost all his savings, approached police for help.
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