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Delhi Police Crack Down on Widespread Extortion Rings

The Delhi Police has recently dismantled two extortion rings that exploited vulnerabilities in victims’ lives, leveraging social media and online platforms to extort substantial sums of money.

The First Ring: Video Call Blackmail

• Victims were lured into conversations with individuals posing as women on social media.
• These online interactions eventually led to the initiation of video calls, during which victims were blackmailed with explicit recordings.
• The perpetrators threatened to expose the compromising material to the public unless the victims paid up to Rs 1 lakh.
• A total of 150 obscene videos were recovered from the suspect’s mobile phone, implicating nearly 50 different victims.

The Second Ring: Dating App Scam

• Individuals created fake female profiles to befriend victims online and build trust.
• Once contact was established, victims were invited to isolated locations or rented flats, where they were confronted by individuals posing as police officers.
• The perpetrators threatened the victims with false rape allegations or criminal charges, demanding large sums of money in exchange for their silence.
• Four individuals were arrested, while two remain at large.

Investigations revealed that both rings employed elaborate strategies to evade detection, utilizing fake digital identities, temporary phone numbers, and rented locations. Financial transactions, mobile data, and chat records are currently being examined to determine the full scope of the network and potential connections to similar cases in other states.

Victims are advised to seek help immediately through the 1930 cyber helpline or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

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