NEW DELHI: A 26-year-old man from Haryana has been arrested for allegedly running an elaborate sextortion racket that targeted individuals across India, Delhi Police said on Sunday.
The accused, Mohammad Naseem, allegedly forced a person to transfer Rs 39,000 by threatening to upload a video of him online.
According to police, the case began on June 5 when the complainant received a video call from an unknown woman. The call was cut off almost immediately, but shortly afterwards, the victim received another call from a mobile number. The caller, pretending to be a cyber police officer, warned that an explicit video of the victim would be uploaded to social media.
“The victim was then connected to another person claiming to be a social media platform employee, who demanded money to remove the video,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Hareshwar Swami. Fearing public exposure, the victim transferred Rs 39,000 in three separate UPI transactions, only realising later that he had fallen prey to a scam. He subsequently lodged a complaint through the National Cyber Reporting Platform (NCRP), officials said.
Police investigated the call and bank account details and later raided a premises in Mubarikpur village in Haryana’s Nuh, arresting Mohammad Naseem, the officer said.
Interrogation revealed that the gang lured targets via social media video calls using blurry images of women, and then escalated threats by impersonating law enforcement officers.
Funds routed secretly
Funds collected from victims were routed through multiple accounts and intermediaries to conceal the money trail. Police continue to probe the matter to identify other members of the gang.