26-year-old’s suicide in Bengaluru factors to on-line ‘sextortion’ racket

THE SUICIDE in Bengaluru final month of a 26-year-old MBA has put the highlight on the rising menace of what’s being described in police circles as “sextortion” by organised gangs utilizing social media accounts.
Several days after Avinash BS hanged himself at his house on March 23, an internet gang contacted his elder sister on Facebook — with out realising that their sufferer was lifeless — and demanded extra money to make sure that a video just isn’t posted on-line or shared with family and friends.
According to police sources, this was when the household realised that the possible reason for Avinash’s demise was steady efforts by the gang to blackmail him with alleged movies of his on-line sexual conduct.
The sufferer’s sister additionally learnt from Avinash’s pals that he had borrowed practically Rs 35,000 to repay the gang that had began blackmailing him after a girl who recognized herself as “Neha Sharma” established contact on social media and allegedly lured him into performing sexual acts on digital camera that had been recorded.
On April 3, the sister filed a criticism with the Ok R Puram police station within the Whitefield division of Bengaluru on April 3, accusing 5 individuals of extortion and abetment in her brother’s suicide.
Experts from the CID cyber crime cell in Bengaluru say that is amongst a sequence of latest circumstances across the nation involving organised gangs which might be focusing on folks by social media.
In March, the cell busted a gang that focused a 54-year-old businessman from the Nelamangala area of rural Bengaluru. The businessman made a number of funds however turned to the police when the gang turned relentless of their demand for extra to stop an alleged video from being circulated amongst his pals listed on social media.
“There is a full-fledged racket to carry out these extortions. Many of the gangs involved in online fraud seem to have switched over to this activity. Very few come forward to file complaints on account of fear of the stigma from the recordings going public — even if they are fake,” a cyber crime official mentioned.
“Citizens are requested to exercise utmost caution while dealing with any stranger on social media and should make it a practice of using the privacy controls in mobile devices as well as in applications,” Karnataka CID ADGP Umesh Kumar mentioned.
In the businessman’s case, filed with the CID in February, the sufferer alleged that an unknown individual, claiming to have obscene images and movies of him, was threatening to submit them on Facebook, WhatsApp and different social media.
He mentioned in his criticism that the extortionists obtained his photos and movies with out consent, “morphed and edited them in an obscene manner” and threatened to share them together with his pals after sharing a replica with him.
The CID probe led police in March to Rajasthan’s Bharatpur the place 4 individuals had been allegedly working a full-fledged on-line extortion racket utilizing faux on-line and offline identities. The CID subsequently arrested them — Sahun, Shahrukh Khan, Nasir and Shahid Anwar — from the Pahari police station limits.
The gang was concerned in related extortions of many different victims, CID officers mentioned. “There is a rapid increase in the number of instances where attractive social media profiles are created by criminals with malicious intent. The scamsters use these fake profiles to entice and induce male victims to share their private pictures or videos which are later used for extorting money by threatening to reveal them,” mentioned M D Sharath, SP, CID cyber crime division.
“Fake profiles with attractive photographs on dating apps, social media sites, matrimonial websites or apps are generally used by the criminals to get in touch with victims. Initially, the conversations will be normal for a few days and once confidence is established, the victim will be induced to share their intimate pictures and videos,” CID officers mentioned.
“On getting access to these private pictures and videos, fraudsters will start extorting the victim for money. The fraudsters will threaten to upload them on the internet or share those with the victim’s relatives, family and friends,” SP Sharath mentioned.
In Avinash’s case, the sister advised police that her brother made a number of funds totalling Rs 35,000 to the e-wallet of a person recognized as Tejas R on March 22 — a day earlier than his demise.

She has mentioned that two days after her brother’s demise, an individual claiming to be “Neha Sharma” pinged her on Facebook asking if she was associated to Avinash and whether or not she may present his whereabouts.
The sister, who obtained suspicious since all her brother’s pals had been conscious of his demise, performed alongside and offered the cellphone variety of a cousin. Soon, a message was acquired on the cousin’s cellphone — from an unknown quantity — threatening to ship a video to Avinash’s pals if a ultimate fee of Rs 21,000 just isn’t made, the sister’s criticism states.

The sister was given the cellular numbers of 4 “managers” to whom cash might be wired, it states. One of the messages from the extortionists learn: “First send money next video delete.”