Shimla: Scammers target residents with obscene texts, video calls

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, October 17

Befriending people through Facebook to lay honeytraps has become old fashioned as nowadays cybercriminals have taken to WhatsApp to directly target them with obscene messages and video calls.

PEOPLE TOLD TO BE VIGILANT

People are being advised not to receive video calls and reply to messages from unknown numbers, keep the safety features of their profile active and not to make their accounts and photographs on social media public. Rohit Malpani, SP (cybercrime)

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“I am frequently getting obscene messages on WhatsApp. So far, I have blocked three to four numbers,” says Devu, a Shimla resident.

“I was dumbstruck when I received a video call on WhatsApp, in which a youth starting showing me his private parts following which I reported the matter to the Cyber police,” said a 60-year-old woman from Shimla.

“The fraudsters are picking up the numbers from social networking and shopping sites, and other platforms. On an average, four to five complaints are being received every day. One of the victims (retired doctor) has even been forced to pay Rs 1 crore,” said SP (Cybercrime) Rohit Malpani.

The criminals zero in on affluent older men and women, grappling with sexual monotony, and the victims receive WhatsApp calls mostly from strangers. The video calls are then recorded and further used for blackmailing to extort money.

“School dropouts and uneducated teenagers in areas such as Mewat, Bharatpur, Alwar and Nagar in Rajasthan and Haryana are allegedly indulging in sextortion, which is a malicious online crime in which cybercriminals threaten to distribute or make viral the private, sensitive and sexually explicit material pertaining to the victim,” police sources said.

“Several persons are getting such messages and calls daily. At times, people fall prey to such nefarious designs and later get blackmailed for money,” said another resident, Kartik.