Cyber thugs are back with WhatsApp video calls showing porn clips

A 35yearold professor from the University of Delhi recently received a video call on Facebook Messenger from an anonymous number To his horror a nude girl appeared on the other side Before he could disconnect the call cyber criminals made a quick video of the professor watching the porn clip and the harassment beganIt was around 2 am when I received a call from an unknown person on Facebook Messenger When I received the call I saw a nude girl on the other end I disconnected the call immediately However before I could figure out what exactly happened I received a few screenshots of my video call on Messenger a shaken professor told IANS on the condition of anonymityStarting to panic he immediately blocked the user After an hour the professor got an audio call where another man asked him to pay Rs 20000 via a digital payment app within five minutes else he would post these screenshots on Facebook for his friends and family community to see I was nervous and deactivated my Facebook account Nothing happened after that night to date but Im still worried he saidSuch anonymous video calls on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are growing in India and the relevant authorities are unable to stop such activities According to cyber experts in a reminiscence of Jamtaratype mobile frauds the notorious gangs of the Mewat region have resurfaced extorting money from people by blackmailing them with such WhatsApp video callingsThe gangs operate in the Mewat region of Haryana Further Bhiwadi Tijara Kishangarh Bas Ramgarh Laxmangarh in Alwar and Nagar Pahadi and Govindgarh in Bharatpur also are the main areas where these cyber thugs are operating from In October the Crime Branch of Delhi Police claimed to have arrested the mastermind of an interstate sextortion gang from Rajasthans BharatpurAccording to police the gang led by Nasir 25 has been indulging in extorting money from reputed persons after blackmailing them with their obscene pictures and videos At least 36 gangs have been busted and 600 accused arrested by Alwar police in the lsquosextortion case In the pandemic there has been a surge in such activities Cyber criminals run recorded porn videos and then send your recording back to you asking for money which could be anywhere from Rs 10000 to over a few lakhIf denied they threaten to share your pornwatching video in your social media circles and the mental harassment begins afterwards independent cyber security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia told IANS A DelhiNCR based journalist faced the same situation this month when he received a WhatsApp video call and saw a nude girl Surprised as well as confused he immediately disconnected the call He later received some screenshots as well a video recorded from the person who called himThe person told me that he is going to send these videos to everyone on social media and asked me to pay Rs 23000 immediately to delete the video I blocked him but then I started getting calls from unknown numbers asking me to transfer the money I blocked them and turned off my phone for a few hours the journalist told IANS He later did not receive any more callsAccording to Rajaharia if you do not give in to their demands immediately there are chances that they wont share your porn video with others as doing this will invite trouble for them if the person goes to cyber police with their contact details However the victims must quickly contact the cyber branch of police in their respective areas When you receive an anonymous call do not pick it immediately Try to find out the identity of that anonymous person via SMS or WhatsApp chat first and then check if that person belongs to your known circle of acquaintances or not the cyber expert advised Even if you have taken the anonymous WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger video call switch off or cover your camera he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever