Sextortionists have upped their game. What can you do?

Taking advantage of the emotional vulnerability of people during the pandemic sextortionists have changed modus operandi Earlier their targets were youngsters but now they have moved to professionals who can pay more to save their reputation The crooks even record videos and send explicit content to people on the victimsrsquo contact listsAccording to cyber experts professionals like doctors educationists politicians businessmen bureaucrats etc easily succumb to the pressure tactics of sextortionists and agree to pay hefty sums to them ldquoPost lockdown the sextortionists have changed their modus operandi of targeting victims Now wellknown professionals from Mumbai and nearby districts are being targetedrdquo said Cyber Expert Ritesh BhatiaAnother cyber expert Govind Ray director of Dinosys Infotech Pvt Ltd told midday that the sextortionists first study the lifestyles of their victims and spend a few months online with them to win their trust before targeting them and stealing data from their cellphonesldquoRecently a wellknown person contacted me with his complaint He told me that the accused contacted him through a dating app and later they switched over to WhatsApp chats After taking the victim into confidence the sextortionist asked him to download an application on his cellphone He was told that the application was useful for making money in terms of investmentrdquo Ray told midday ldquoThe victim clicked on the link he was asked for access to his phonebook in order to download the application The victim followed all the instructions but there was nothing in the application Later he removed the application but his phonebook had been compromised by thenrdquo he addedldquoAfter a few days the sextortionist resorted to sex chats with him Later he was asked to come on video chat but it was a recorded one When the victim answered the video call some explicit content was showed to him and his video recorded Thereafter the accused asked him to pay up or else his video would have been circulated among his contacts Somehow he reached out to me and we rescued himrdquo Ray addedldquoThe predators have now started to create applications based on your interests and hobbies Itrsquos time to make privacy our first priority and the first step towards this is being aware of what application you download and the permissions and approvals you giverdquo he addedHe further said ldquoThe pandemic has made us realise the importance of personal touch and conversations This is exactly what the predators are working on They have become more organised and technical Intimacy is personal which gets lost when you take it online because there is always the threat of someone else interveningrdquoBhatia added ldquoThe sextortionists first go through your social media accounts befriend you easily before switching over to WhatsApp chats and then video chats Previously they would only threaten but not send explicit videos to anyone Now they have started sending these videos to those on victimsrsquo contact listsrdquoCyber experts further said that phonebook data makes it easier for them to target high profile personalities ldquoOnce you respond to a video call a prerecorded video is played in which a nude woman is seen dancing When you watch the video the accused records your screen Then the screen recording is merged with another sexually explicit video to make it look as if you have been doing certain sexual activities while watching the dancerdquo Bhatia added He further said ldquoNow if you donrsquot succumb to their pressure they start sending those videos to people on the contact listsrdquoCyber experts suggested that people should keep their social media accounts locked ldquoAlso never answer random video calls as you may be trapped by sextortionistsrdquo added BhatiaCase studiesMLA Prakash Surve from Magathane LS divisionSpeaking to midday MLA Prakash Surve said ldquoThis incident happened on November 11 at 920 pm I received a WhatsApp voice call from an unknown number I didnrsquot receive the call but later got a message mdash lsquoHow are yoursquo I didnt reply to the message A day later I again received a message mdash lsquoHello kya huarsquo Immediately someone video called me on WhatsApp I didnt respond The woman continued calling so when I received it she started taking off her clothes I immediately disconnected the call and sent a message saying lsquodont call otherwise I will register a police complaintrsquo Later the person sent me a video of myself and threatened to upload it on social media The person demanded 5000 I immediately informed the Dahisar police and filed a complaintrdquoMLA Mangesh KudalkarSpeaking to midday MLA Mangesh Kudalkar said ldquoTwo months back I received a Facebook message and a woman asked me for some educationrelated help She also asked for my phone number and I shared it On October 19 I received a WhatsApp video call I disconnected it Suddenly I received a morphed video of the woman and me on my WhatsApp The woman demanded money from me I immediately informed the cyber police and filed a complaintrdquoMalabar Hill businessmanFew months back a Malabar Hill businessman received a friend request on social media Both of them shared contact numbers with each other Within a couple of minutes the businessman received a video call When he received it a woman started taking off her clothes in the video The screen was recorded during the call Later the woman started sending threat messages to him He informed the BKC cyber police and got a case registered However he had to pay in lakhs to the caller Later a case was registered at the Malabar Hill police station Sextortionists arrestedgtgt In July 2021 BKC Cyber police arrested five accused including a juvenile in connection with a sextortion racket They used to video call people and had trapped over 250 people across various cities The accused would make fake accounts of girls on social media to lure rich and highprofile men They had created 12 fake accounts and six fake email idsgtgt In October 2021 the Malabar Hill police arrested three people for extorting money from a South Mumbai businessman In June he had received a follow request on Instagram from a woman and started chatting with her The trio recorded a video of him when he was undressing and then started blackmailing him He then transferred 37000 to the accused online After they demanded more money he approached the police Dharshan Bhati 28 Jasraj Darji 22 and Sawailal Darji 22 were arrested from Gujarat The police recovered two laptops three mobile phones four SIM cards and debitcredit cards which were linked to 25 banks accountsgtgt In February 2021 the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested three people for targeting politicians and professionals The accused are from Rajasthan Haryana and Madhya Pradesh They operated around 171 fake Facebook accounts Initially they would ask for 20005000 when blackmailing a person and after receiving this they would demand lakhs of rupees