Chinese dating apps used free porn flicks to attract Indian customers

Hyderabad: Chinese dating apps (applications) lured Indians by playing nude and semi-nude videos before forcing them to go in for subscription or re-charge fee. Ironically, none of the persons, who lost money and enticed to watch live porn, came forward to lodge a complaint, according to Hyderabad police.

After downloading the app, a user could watch promo videos. Later, the user has to re-charge by paying for the live streaming service, where in the woman at the other end will entertain requests of the subscribers. Officials are yet to ascertain whether it is a software-generated content or a live person. “Though it is a dating app, it will not facilitate the user to hook up with someone on a date. It is about sharing porn content. Many Indians paid thousands to watch live streaming and these Chinese companies made crores of rupees,’’ sources in Hyderabad police told TOI.

Since watching adult porn is not a crime, the Hyderabad police had only mentioned about it in the charge sheet filed in the Nampally court recently on the charge of online gambling organised by Chinese firms operated by Beijing T Power Company. These companies were also involved in operating different dating apps through which they earned easy money by luring people.

The online gambling, organised by these Chinese companies, lured people, especially during the lockdown. The most popular of them are teen patti, rummy, online satta and colour predictions.

Hyderabad police said organizing online gambling was banned in Telangana and the Chinese company has been accused of manipulating the result against gamers.

These Chinese companies had since late 2019 lured several online users to play online gambling through referral system. A person who introduces new customers was given 15%commission of the bet amount put in by the new gamer.

The officials were still in the process of gathering information whether the Chinese companies accessed mobile phone data of users without their permission.