Kolkata: This story is not new, but still needs to be told. A 26-year-old resident of B.T. Road recently lodged a complaint with Chitpur Police Station stating that on and before June 29, he struck up a friendship with a young woman who went by ‘dizzy_simmi_07’ on Instagram, and began a conversation with her. Matters then progressed to WhatsApp, and she began chatting and video calling from a phone number. During one such video call, she induced the complainant to expose himself to her, and captured screenshots and videos.
Many of you can probably guess what followed. The scammers forwarded the photographs and videos to a few of the complainant’s Instagram friends as well as to him from a new WhatsApp number and warned him that unless he paid up, they would send the photos and videos to many more people. The frightened complainant did pay Rs.49, 700/-, but that was not enough. The fraudsters now began calling from a third WhatsApp number, making more threats and demanding more money.
Finally, the young man turned to the police, and based on source information, the police conducted a few raids resulting in the arrest of Bijoy Kumar Sharma (22) and Rohit Rajak (19) on July 19, and seized a bank passbook and ATM card from them. Both the accused are residents of Liluah, Howrah.
The police said needless to say, the complainant is not the only victim of such fraud. And this trap was not laid in a day. From experience, we can say that as time goes by, digital crimes are becoming more elaborate and complex, with the number of such criminals increasing daily. Before trusting someone you don’t know very well, think. Are you being tempted to step into a trap? Stay alert, stay safe.
Both the arrested accused is in 14-day police custody. Inspector Mr. Chaitan Chapair (Investigating Officer) & Sub-Inspector Mr. Kalyan Debnath of Chitpur Police Station and Sub-Inspector Ms. Priyanka Mondal of Cyber Cell, North and North Suburban Division were a part of the team behind the investigation.
Our, Reporter in Chief
R. Manoj Kumar Sharma
Siliguri City, West Bengal
