Man loses Rs 39K in sextortion scam via social media, accused nabbed

On June 5, Ravi Parkesh Saini of Narela received a Facebook Messenger video call from an unknown woman’s account. The call disconnected immediately, but soon after, Saini received a call from a person claiming to be to a Cyber Police officer.

The caller threatened that an obscene video of Saini would be uploaded to YouTube. The caller then connected Saini to another person claiming to be a YouTube employee, who demanded money to remove the supposed video. Out of fear, Saini transferred Rs 39,000 in three transactions to the UPI ID provided. Only later did he realise he had been cheated and lodged a complaint on the National Cyber Reporting Platform (NCRP) portal.

Technical surveillance and field investigation led the police to Mubarik Pur village in Punhana, Haryana. There, accused Md Naseem, 26, was apprehended.

According to the police, the sextortion racket operated systematically. The fraudsters first contacted victims through social media video calls, displaying a blurry female image to create alarm. They then followed up with phone calls, posing as law enforcement and claiming that an obscene video of the victim would be uploaded online. Victims were coerced into transferring money to specified UPI or bank accounts to “remove” the video.

To cover their tracks, the funds were routed through multiple accounts and withdrawn via ATMs, while local handlers or mule accounts were used to transfer cash to the main conspirators, making identification and tracing of the perpetrators difficult. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Outer North District, Hareshwar Swami, said this linking four other NCRP complaints from across India to the same network, suggesting a widespread sextortion operation.

The investigation is ongoing to identify other members of the network and potential victims.

Authorities warned social media users to exercise caution and avoid transferring money in response to online threats.