Cyber Fraud Alert: Bengaluru Sextortion Scam Leaves 69-Year-Old Man Victimised, How To Stay Safe

Cybercrime is increasing around the world. Recently, a 96-year-old man was trapped by a stranger on social media and he went on losing Rs 1.7 lakh. Amidst the increasing cybercrime on social media, let’s take a look at the case, of how befriending a stranger on social media proved to be expensive for an old man.

What’s The Case?

A 69-year-old retired private sector employee in Bengaluru lost Rs 1.7 Lakh because of befriending a stranger on social media. The victim is a resident of an apartment in Gunjur near Whitefield. A few days back, the man befriended a stranger girl on Facebook and used to chat with her on the Messenger app. However, an incident took place on 21st November when the girl made a video call to the man. Initially, he disconnected the call, but he answered after receiving repetitive calls from the girl. As per the sources, the girl on the other side was posing nude. The woman held an inappropriate conversation with the man which startled him. He warned the woman and disconnected the call. But this was not it. After some time, the old man received a video clip of his interaction with the girl, along with a photo capturing him and the girl.

The girl threatened him to upload that compromising video and photos on social media and tried to extort money from him. Initially, he refused to give the money and blocked her on the app. But, the very next day he received calls from an unknown number, with the caller claiming that he had uploaded nude photos and videos of this man on YouTube. Further, he demanded Rs 76,500 to remove them.

Panicked by the situation, the old man transferred the money to the caller’s bank account. Later on, he received a similar call from another miscreant, but this time the extortion amount was Rs 94,000. The senior citizen again transferred the said amount to the caller’s account (how to prevent pan card scam) through a digital payment application. When the miscreants tried to extort more money, he decided to approach the police.

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How To Stay Safe?

With the creasing cybercrime, which includes revenge porn, cyber-stalking, bullying, sextortion and child sexual exploitation, everyone needs to know about certain safety guidelines. Check out the guidelines here:

• Never befriend a stranger on social media (instagram new flashing tool).
• Use a strong password for all your social media accounts.
• Be Aware of pop-ups and fraudulent emails.
• Do not trust anything you see on social media and the internet
• Approach the police immediately in case of such scams.

This Bengaluru case is a lesson for all of us to be aware of while using social media.

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