Beware of 'friendship' offers on dating apps, cautions SP

The district police authorities have cautioned residents to beware of the fake "friendship" calls and messages made by fraudsters posing as beautiful girls on social media platforms.

A number of cases are being reported in which unsuspecting men get trapped by accepting such requests and eventually find themselves in a quagmire of blackmail and intimidation.

"Cyber fraudsters have found a new way to cheat people. They create profiles on dating apps and social media platforms by using photographs of beautiful girls and fake names. Then, they befriend men and connect with them on WhatsApp and Facebook etc. They make nude video calls and record the same to blackmail the trapped men," said Rohtak Superintendent of Police (SP) Narendra Bijarniya.

The SP advised the residents to be cautious and refrain from accepting such friend requests as the fraudsters repeatedly demand and extort money by threatening to send the video-call recordings to the family and friends of the trapped men.

"Actually, the cyber criminals record the video calls by turning on the screen record option on their smart phones while making the video calls. After this, they play nude videos in the background and then blackmail their victims," the officer pointed out.