Beware! This could be a sextortion call

Arjun got a video call but after taking it he cut it in 6-8 seconds. But those few seconds were enough to take a screenshot of the video call. Arjun was seen in the small window of that screenshot and a woman was seen in an objectionable position in the big screen. By sending this screenshot to Arjun repeatedly, someone started blackmailing him. As soon as he blocked one number, he got a call from another. And this continued. The caller demanded money and if not paid, he threatened to send his picture to his friends or make it viral on the social medi. This is the latest strategy to extort money from people. It is called sextortion. It involves recovery of money on fear of sharing obscene photos on public platforms or acquaintances. In such cases, people quietly give money in fear of being defamed in front of family members. But once you pay, you get caught in a chain of blackmailing which becomes very difficult to break.

The Mumbai Police has made a list of cities from where cyber crime fraud calls are made. They found that sextortion calls were made from Mewat region which falls in Haryana, neighbouring Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. From a vegetable vendor in Kerala to a factory worker in Surat, from Pune student to 70-year-old man from Chandigarh, these thugs do not spare anyone. Mewat has become India’s new Jamtara. The same Jamtara where cyber scamming gangs emptied people’s bank accounts in seconds. But there is a big difference between scams that had taken place in Jamtara and scams which are taking place in Mewat. The sextortion scam requires neither OTP nor bank account number, just a screenshot of your picture or audio recording of obscene conversation is enough. They use these recordings  not once but several times to recover money.

It is not easy to catch the scammers of Mewat  because this area comes under the jurisdiction of three states. Due to the movement of truck drivers in this area, SIM cards from all over the country will be found in this area. Using these SIM cards, it becomes easy for scamsters to change the number and call.

Government data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that cyber crime cases increased by 111% in 2021.  The most common complaints were lodged against cyberbullying and sextortion. This can be gauged from the fact that 356 cases were registered in the Cyber Crime Cell of Delhi Police in 2021. All of these cases were related to blackmailing through use of objectionable pictures or conversations. Most of the complainants were girls aged 12 to 17 years.

The only way to deal with such calls is to file a complaint. A complaint of sextortion should be lodged with the police station in your area. Give the phone number, video and recording of the conversation to the police. If you hide them out of shame and fear, it means that you are encouraging criminals. If someone makes a video of you, you are not a criminal. The person who makes the video is a criminal. under India’s law, the person who publishes obscene content can be punished for 2 to 5 years.