Coimbatore: Unidentified online scamsters blackmailed a 20-year-old college student and cheated him of 20,000 after a woman trapped him with a WhatsApp video call to secure a compromising video of him.According to the city cybercrime police, the victim, a second-year student at a private college, befriended a woman on Instagram a few months ago. “Their interaction later moved to WhatsApp and she gained his trust by briefly making a video call and showing her face. Taking advantage of this trust, she persuaded him to share a compromising video of himself,” a police officer said. Soon after the student shared the video, the officer said, an unidentified gang contacted him and claimed to have the explicit footage. “They threatened to leak it on social media unless he paid them money. When the student tried to contact the woman, he found that her profile had been deleted and her phone number was unreachable.” The student transferred 20,000 to a bank account provided by the fraudsters. However, the gang continued to demand more money. When the student said he could not pay any further, they accessed his phone contacts and sent the video to his parents, the officer said. The student subsequently lodged a complaint with the city cybercrime police, who registered a case and launched an investigation to trace the gang. “If anyone is targeted by such sextortion gangs, they should not pay any money. Payments only encourage criminals to demand more. Instead, victims should immediately report the matter to the cybercrime cell. We have the technical means to freeze the gang’s activities and prevent further circulation of the content,” the officer said.
