78-year-old man in Bengaluru lured into video call, falls prey to sextortion racket

Bengaluru: What began as a casual online interaction on Facebook turned into a nightmare for a 78-year-old man after fraudsters allegedly trapped him in a sextortion racket and began blackmailing him with intimate videos.The victim, a retired resident of HAL Old Airport Road, responded to a message from a Facebook profile named Radhika Aggarwal in Feb. The woman introduced herself as an Indian living in the United Kingdom and continued the conversation over calls and messages. According to a complaint filed by the victim's daughter-in-law, the woman initially contacted him through a UK-based number before asking him to continue the conversation on WhatsApp using an Indian mobile number. The friendly chats soon turned personal and intimate. During one of the video calls, the fraudster allegedly persuaded the elderly man to engage in explicit acts while she secretly recorded the interaction. Soon after, the tone of the conversation changed. The accused began sending the victim screenshots and clips from the video call and demanded Rs 2 lakh to prevent the footage from being circulated and shared with his family and friends. To intensify the pressure, the accused created a fake Instagram account in the victim's name and added several of his relatives. Through the account, she began posting and threatening to circulate the intimate photos and videos, making it appear as if the victim himself had uploaded them. Embarrassed and distressed by the situation, the elderly man confided in his family. As he was unable to personally visit the police station due to his age, his daughter-in-law lodged a complaint. Cybercrime experts warn such cases are becoming increasingly common. Fraudsters typically befriend victims online, lure them into private video calls and record compromising visuals, which are later used to extort money by threatening to leak the content publicly or share it with family.Police said a case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and BNS Section 318 (cheating), and further investigation is under way. The complainant claimed they have not paid the money demanded by fraudsters.