Mumbai: A 40-year-old chartered accountant lost Rs2.25 lakh to a woman who threatened to share their explicit conversation with his wife. In his police complaint, the Matunga resident said that he had received a WhatsApp message from an unknown woman on Sept 29, asking if he was interested in explicit chat.
Upon agreeing, the man received a nude photograph of a woman on his WhatsApp. He, too, shared his intimate photograph. The fraudster then asked if he was interested in a physical relationship. When the man agreed, he was asked to meet in Andheri. Next day, the woman shared a screenshot of their conversation with the complainant and started blackmailing him, the police said.
The fraudster even forwarded the explicit chats to the man's wife, with the caption reading “sending you something interesting”. Subsequently, she took a screenshot of her conversation with the man's wife and sent it to him.
With the threat of destroying the complainant's family life, the woman exacted Rs2.25 lakh in different online transactions. When the demand for more money kept continuing, the man blocked the number but kept receiving extortion demands from other numbers, the police said.
Based on his complaint, a case was registered on Tuesday under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.
According to the statistics from the Mumbai police, sextortion cases increased by 42% last year as compared to 2021. 77 offences were reported in 2022 as compared to 54 in 2021.
Sextortion cases on rise
2022
Cases registered
77
Cases detected
24
Accused arrested
33
2021
Cases registered
54
Cases detected
30
Accused arrested
52
