A major phishing crime wave is on the loose. Social media users, especially ones on Instagram, have paid lakhs of rupees to protect their reputation after their faces were superimposed with naked bodies.
According to a report by The Indian Express, police say such phishing attacks are becoming increasingly common, mostly by an alleged gang of scamsters who operate at the tri-junction of Haryana, UP and Rajasthan from places such as Bharatpur, Mathura and Mewat. While there is no consolidated data on the number of such attacks, police say their increasing frequency has earned the region the notoriety of being the ‘New Jamtara’.
The report narrates the case-study of Bhasin, who received a friend request on Instagram. A woman then sent him a Direct Message (DM), asking for his WhatsApp number. “I didn’t share that considering I didn’t know her personally. What was odd was that within a few minutes, she started making video calls on Instagram. Initially I ignored the calls but after seven or eight of those, I answered the phone,” he told The Indian Express.
“On the other side was a naked woman performing obscene acts. It took me around 15 seconds to figure out what was going on. And then, I disconnected the call,” he added.
Bhasin started receiving messages and calls from family and friends about a ‘video’ they had got. “The scamsters had taken a picture of my face from the video call I had with them and superimposed it on someone else’s body. In the video they shared, it appears as if I am having a sex chat,” Bhasin said.
He registered a complaint at the local police station in Delhi’s Defence Colony.
On July 4, the Agra Cyber Police arrested three men from Mewat who were allegedly involved in various forms of cyber crime, including making “nude video calls to blackmail people”. Police believe that it is this same gang that targeted Bhasin.
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