Elderly man falls prey to sextortion, loses Rs 12.8 lakh after a WhatsApp video call

PTI

New Delhi, November 3

Two people have been arrested for allegedly extorting Rs 12.8 lakh from an elderly man by threatening to upload obscene screenshots of his video call with a woman on social media, police said on Thursday.

Rajasthan residents Barkhat Khan (32) and Rizwan (22) were arrested by a team of the Cyber cell of Shahdara on Tuesday.

On July 18, the victim got a WhatsApp video call in which a woman was sitting undressed. By the time the man could understand anything, she took a screenshot of the call with the victim's face, police said.

Soon after, he started getting calls from different mobile numbers where the caller claimed that they were speaking from Cyber Crime Delhi. They threatened to upload the screenshot of him online and demanded money, they said.

When the victim did not pay heed, the accused sent an image of the woman, purportedly showing her dead and hanging. The accused threatened him again and then the elderly man transferred Rs 12,80,000 to the bank account provided by the accused, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Rohit Meena said the team arrested Khan from Alwar. Three mobile phones and several sim cards were recovered from his possession.

During questioning, it was found that a syndicate was operating to cheat and extort people by making such video calls, Meena said, adding that multiple raids were conducted and Rizwan was arrested from Deeg.

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