BENGALURU: A 24-year-old model who responded to an Instagram advertisement landed in a distressing situation as cybercrooks recorded her while she was changing, blackmailed her for money, and created a fake social media ID in her name.
According to a complaint filed by Aadhya (name changed), a resident of HBR Layout in east Bengaluru, she saw an advertisement on Instagram on Jan 29 wherein one Rohit had said a model was required for a music album. Aadhya, a computer professional who is also into modelling, thought she would get better exposure with the music album and responded to the ad, stating she was interested in it.
Once she shared her contact information with the fraudster, she was then directed to connect with a supposed ‘organiser’ on WhatsApp.
The organiser took her details, including her photos, and claimed she was selected. The crooks sent her an email that mentioned the time and date of the audition. Later, the fraudsters shared a Zoom meeting link with her and conducted an ‘online audition’.
A few days later, she completed the first round of the audition. Then the fraudsters instructed her to change clothes for the second round. Although the woman stated she disconnected the video call before changing, the perpetrators managed to capture a video of her in nude. The fraudsters started blackmailing her. They sent her a portion of the clipping and told her that if she didn’t pay them money, they would share her nudes on social media.
Initially, they asked her for Rs 20,000. When she argued, they threatened to make her video go viral. Aadhya panicked and transferred Rs 10,000 through a digital payment app on March 20. After she paid them, the fraudsters called her almost every day and sent messages demanding more money and threatened to share her private images on social media platforms. The fraudsters contacted her through Snapchat with a profile ID named rohit_livin. They also messaged her from the number 8527850930.
According to Aadhya, she received the email from the email ID ‘indiadesimusicfactory@gmail.com’. The Zoom meeting ID was ‘htt\uso5web.zoom.usj82075324361? pwd=KVTDF77WacqEaW7CL3ohvKHRZxj.1′.
Apart from blackmailing her for money, the fraudsters also created a fake Instagram ID in her name.
A senior police officer said the woman claims to have transferred the money to a UPI ID in the name of Shalu 6397264452-4@ybl. The fraudsters also called and messaged her from the number 9354226616. A case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 308 (extortion).
According to the complainant, she disconnected the Zoom call before changing, and still it was recorded. “It is quite shocking for us. We will know more details after we catch the suspects and question them,” the officer added.