Friendly chats or cyber traps? The dark side of video calls

A 60-year-old Santosh was at home with his wife on a Saturday in October when he received a video call on WhatsApp.

The call was from an unknown number. Upon answering, he was confronted with the image of a young woman who began to undress on camera. Startled by the sudden and inappropriate situation, Santosh promptly hung up the call.

Immediately after the call, Santhosh shared the details with his wife and then put the unsettling experience out of his mind. However, his peace was short-lived; that night, he was disturbed to receive a video that featured his own face superimposed onto an explicit scene. This was soon followed by a phone call from someone alleging to be a Mumbai police officer, who ominously informed Santosh that he was implicated in a legal matter concerning the lewd video.

The caller offered Santosh a deal: the case could be dropped if he paid a certain fee.

Distressed by the events, Santosh relayed the predicament to his son, who — aware of the escalating cybercrime incidents in Bengaluru — promptly blocked the incoming call numbers on his father’s phone. When they contacted the police the next day, the officers advised them that, with the numbers blocked, the best course of action would be to try to put the matter behind them.

However, Santosh and his family were shaken by the turn of events. “It took us some time to come out of that horrifying incident,” Santosh’s daughter told DH.

Santosh had narrowly escaped from being a victim of “sextortion”. But not everybody is as lucky.

Data accessed by DH revealed that 58 sextortion cases have been filed at city police stations from January to October this year, an increase from 45 cases in all of 2022 and 12 in 2021. However, senior police officers believe that the actual number of cases is much higher. Raman Gupta, Additional Commissioner (east), told DH that an estimated 80% of sextortion cases go unreported.

“Fear and shame restrict people from going to the police,” he said, adding that police have been sensitised about these issues, and people should trust them and reach out to them for quick guidance before losing money. 

Initiating friendships

Sextortion scammers employ various methods, with random video calls on WhatsApp being just one tactic. They concoct elaborate schemes to ensnare victims by initiating friendships on social media, through invitations to dating sites, or on platforms like Reddit and Telegram. While the elderly may fall prey to random calls, the more tech-savvy users often become victims of these more complex plots.

Random WhatsApp video calls are typically made by individuals located in distant states such as Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar. However, local scammers tend to selectively target their victims and employ classic honey-trap strategies, according to a senior police officer from the Central Crime Branch (CCB).

“Local scammers introduce themselves to their targets on social media and build a rapport over time. When the victims lower their guard, they propose to have a meeting to get physical,” the officer said, adding, “They record their intimate times secretly and later start threatening the victims for money.”  

People who willingly search for partners may encounter invites on Reddit and Telegram, which can lead to them being scammed. In such instances, victims typically avoid contacting the police until they have lost a significant amount of money and often silently endure the harassment, police say.

Who are these scamsters? B Dayananda, Bengaluru city commissioner, explains that scamsters are not tech-savvy nerds. “But they groom their communication skills well and exploit existing technology to make a killing,” he said.