Cyber Crime in Goa: Hackers Pose As Beautiful Girls; Lure Victims To Strip Naked, Blackmail Them Later

The rise of social media has been a boon for most of the people, but it is a massive bane for those who can be fooled easily. Extortion has been one of the most common types of crimes since forever. But criminals have now found a way to extort money from naïve people by posing as ‘Beautiful Girls’. Yes, you read it right.

Similar incidents have been happening in Goa, as Goa police has reported that there has been a rise in the number of cyber crimes related to extortion and entrapment. The cyber criminals first make a social media account and often pose as a beautiful girl. They send the requests to people to grab their attention. Once the conversation escalates, the criminals lure the victims into exposing themselves on videocalls and then blackmail them for money. 

“Goa Police’s cyber crime police (CCC) station has received several such complaints from Facebook and WhatsApp users,” CCC PI Vishwesh Karpe told in a news report. However, Kapre clarified that no cases are registered because the victims don’t want to due to the stigma attached.

Middle Aged Men are the primary targets

These incidents have been happening a lot lately, and mostly middle-aged men have been the victims of such crimes. A lot of Facebook and WhatsApp users have complained about these incidents, but not a significant number of cases have been registered officially because the victims are often worried about their reputation.

Officers in Goa are advising people not to fall for such friend request. “Conmen create fake profiles posing as girls on social media and then starts sending a random friend request. After winning their confidence they invite for nude video chat and secretly record the conversation and blackmail them,” the officer said.

Protect yourself from similar crimes

The number of such incidents is more in case of middle-aged men, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the population is safe from these criminal masterminds. To protect yourself from such crimes, make a note of these points:

1. Don’t accept the requests of strangers. If criminals get access to your pictures, they have the power to misuse them.

2. Don’t reply to the messages of strangers unless it is absolutely necessary.

3. Never give your personal details to any stranger.

4. Never receive a voice-call or videocall from strangers on social media. 

5. If you think that a stranger of social media is misbehaving or trying to create unwanted situations, report their account or file a complaint against them