Hyderabad sextortion case: Software engineer stripped on video call; duped of Rs 1.7 lakh, investigation on

HYDERABAD: A 25-year-old software engineer, residing in Gachibowli, fell prey to a sextortion racket and ended up losing ₹1.7 lakh.The fraudsters reportedly honey-trapped him through a dating platform and extorted money after recording a video of him stripping on a live video call with a woman.In his complaint, the victim said he was “matched” with a woman identifying herself as Varsa Rawat on a dating platform on Aug 19. Their conversation soon shifted to Instagram and from there to WhatsApp.They soon grew close, and during a video call on Aug 22, the woman suddenly stripped and coerced the victim into doing the same while recording the screen, unbeknownst to the victim, according to the complaint.“She accessed my social media contact list and threatened to circulate my intimate footage among friends and relatives unless I paid her money,” the victim alleged.Blackmail didn’t stopUnder duress, he transferred ₹1.7 lakh through multiple transactions. When further demands followed, he realised the blackmail would not stop and approached the Cyberabad cybercrime police on Sunday.Based on his statement, police registered a case under sections 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 308(2) (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66-D of the Information Technology Act.Based on the phone numbers, social media handles, and bank transactions, police are trying to identify the accused.