Sextortionists targeting government officials and rich people, say police

We are only 21 days into the new year and the city has already reported three sextortion cases all filed within six days Sextortionists are targeting government officials or rich people based on their profile on social media platforms police saidThe extortion was rampant during the COVID19 lockdown but has cropped up again However police say reporting of these cases is important as such instances usually go unreported due to shameA 32yearold Goods And Services Tax superintendent from Marine Drive in his police complaint said he received a message from one Sonia on Facebook on January 7 They started chatting and later exchanged their phone numbers The superintendent said the woman asked if he would be interested in sex video chat and ldquohe immediately received the video callrdquo ldquoThe woman stripped naked and asked me to remove my pants This went on for a minute and then the call disconnectedrdquo he addedOne of the victims was told to pay Rs 5 lakh Representation picThe next morning around 11 am the victim received a call from an unknown number When he answered a man told him to check his WhatsApp He had received a video clip of the previous evening The man threatened to send the clip to his wife sister and friends if he didnrsquot give 5 lakhAn FIR in GST superintendentrsquos case was filed at the Marine Drive police station on January 11 when another Marine Drive resident was targetedSecond case at Marine DriveA 21yearold owner of a tea company had downloaded a dating app OkCupid and befriended a girl After chatting for a few days she made a WhatsApp video call to him on January 11 She stripped and asked him to get naked and the man did so police said He also received pictures and video of him stripping and going in the bathtub the next day He immediately filed a complaintldquoThe girl asked for money and when I refused she threatened to upload the video on Instagram and destroy my liferdquo the complainant said in his police statement The third case was filed at Agripada police station on January 17 The complainant who works in a private firm received a similar video chat The woman later demanded 30000 but the 40yearold victim initially gave only 1500 said an officer However fearing that she might blackmail in the future he filed a police complaintBeef up securityUnmesh Joshi cofounder of movement lsquoResponsible Netismrsquo said ldquoThis is rampant not only in Mumbai or Maharashtra but in the entire country We have come across cases in which influential people have coughed up money in lakhs to sextortionists to avoid any infamy Through various platforms we should raise awareness about only one thing upscale your privacy settings and never ever accept video calls or chat requests from unknown peoplerdquoHarish Baijal Deputy Inspector General Cyber Security Maharashtra Police told midday ldquoThis trend has been observed across the state People get attracted to video chat and end up in a difficult situation We urge citizens not to indulge in such chats or video calls And if unfortunately they do they must register a complaint to help nab the culpritsrdquo