BENGALURU: A 22-year-old software professional signed up on a dating app, hoping to make some real connections. He soon matched with a profile and started exchanging messages. But little did he know that he wasn’t just speaking to a deepfake girlfriend, created by generative AI, but being trapped in a sextortion scam, where he lost Rs 1.5 lakh to fraudsters.The victim, Nishanth (name changed) of Ejipura, is a cloud engineer working for a private company. He told police that he created a profile on the dating app Happn, where he connected with a woman identifying herself as “Ishani” on Jan 5. After exchanging messages on the app and sharing some basic personal details, the two moved their conversation to WhatsApp.
On the same day, the victim received a video call from her number. During the call, the woman spoke intimately and coaxed him to strip, during which he was secretly recorded without his knowledge. Shortly after the call ended, the victim began receiving threatening messages and calls. The fraudsters demanded money, warning the intimate video would be sent to his friends and contacts and made viral if he failed to listen to them. Panicked by the threats and fearing public embarrassment, the techie initially transferred Rs 60,000. However, the demands did not stop. He approached one of his friends and transferred Rs 93,000 from his account in multiple transactions to a bank account and to two UPI IDs through a digital payment application provided by the accused by 4.30pm on Jan 6. Despite receiving the money, the fraudsters continued to pressurise him for more payments. Distressed, the victim finally confided in close friends, who advised him to approach police.Based on the complaint, the central cybercrime police station registered a case under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and Section 308 (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. An investigation is underway to trace the accused, a senior police officer said.Police suspect the fraudsters used an AI-generated video of a woman posing intimately to lure the victim. “Many people believe the person on the video call is genuine and live, which leads them into trouble. We noticed sextortion cases originating from dating apps are increasing, so we urge users to exercise caution while interacting with strangers online,” the officer added.
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