KOCHI: Abhi Mohan, 17, (name changed), a Plus-two student, has been getting ample time to surf the internet, especially social media. The youngster, who hails from Perumbavoor, is passionate about online games and could find several Facebook friends who have similar tastes.
Nearly three weeks ago, the youngster received a message from a girl, who seemed to be 30 years old.
Abhi could not resist conversing with her because she was equally interested in online gaming. After winning the boy’s trust, she urged him to make a video call over Facebook. A few days later, the lady published a video of their conversation.
Much to his shock, she replaced her own visuals with that of a nude girl. After seeing the one-minute video, the boy was horrified and disturbed. To add to his tension, the boy received a call from the same woman demanding Rs 10,000 for not releasing the footage. Since the boy lacked the courage to alert his parents about the video, he tried to sort out the issue by himself. On the second day, though, the boy received a snapshot of her communication, which she had shared with his friends and a few relatives.
“She also threatened to reveal the video conversation to every one of his friends and relatives. Since he didn’t have enough money, she offered a ‘deal’. As per that, the youngster must shoot a naked video of himself and give it to her in exchange for not harassing him anymore. However, she breached her promise by sending another video link. This time, she threatened additional money for not publishing his naked video. When a relative discovered the relationship, he informed his family members. As per the directives of the police, Abhi deleted his account,” a police officer said.
Abhi is not the only victim of ‘nude video call’ extortion in the state. Police officers say fraudsters make direct video calls even before the victim realises what is happening.According to a police report, which TNIE assessed, nearly 20 similar cases were registered this year in rural areas alone. The number of instances has grown since the lockdown began, as individuals are spending more time browsing the internet.
Ernakulam District Police Chief (Rural) K Karthik told TNIE: “We are receiving a lot of related complaints and the number has gone up since the start of the lockdown. In addition to Facebook, WhatsApp is being used by fraudsters to make video calls. People should be more vigilant while answering calls from unfamiliar numbers and using social media. It is better not to make the profile public,” Karthik said.
Fraudsters used to target professionals earlier, but students and low-wage workers are also falling prey to their tricks nowadays.“We began receiving complaints from victims last year. We were able to educate the public via awareness programmes, and as a result, the extortion bids utilising nude video chat have steadily decreased. However, during this lockdown, cases increased again,” said E S Bijumon, Addl SP, Hi Tech Crime Enquiry Cell, police headquarters.
He said most of the fraudsters are located in the border states such as Punjab, Assam and West Bengal.
“Due to the lockdown, we are facing some difficulty in conducting the investigation. Yet, we are making efforts to apprehend fraudsters as soon as possible. Most people fear humiliation and only a few come to the police to lodge a complaint. People should come forward so that we can track the fraudsters at the earliest,” he added.
Protect your Facebook
I got a ‘Hi’ from a woman on my Facebook messenger. I spent more than an hour chatting with her because I was bored. On the second day, she made a video call which lasted for more than 30 minutes. The next day, she sent me a nude video, with my chat visuals morphed to it. I spent nearly Rs 2.5 lakh to fix the issue and save my family the shame Sudheer, Victim