Mumbai: Stock trader loses Rs 70,000 to sextortion

A 24-year-old man share market trades lodged a complaint with the Shivaji Park police after falling prey to sextortion. The complainant had received a WhatsApp message from an unknown woman, who soon befriended him. She then induced him to indulge in obscene acts over a video call and allegedly recorded the act, after which she sent screenshots of the video call to the complainant and extorted Rs 70,000 from him.

According to the police, around 3.40 am on August 3, the complainant was chatting on his phone when he received a message from an unknown number. He responded to the message and received a video call from the number. The complainant saw a woman acting obscene over the video call. She asked him to indulge and he complied with her request.

However, he sensed something amiss after some time and immediately cut the call, after which he received screenshots of the video call. The complainant also received a voice call from the woman who asked him to pay her money, or she would send the screenshots to his friends.

The woman also provided a UPIID to the complainant on which he was instructed to transfer the money, police said. In a span of three hours, the woman kept threatening the complainant and forced him to pay Rs 70,000 through five different transactions. However, she kept demanding more money and the complainant approached the police.