Beware! Here is how cyber gangs extort money using deep fake technology

A bunch of cybercriminals has started blackmailing people trapped in their fake nude video call trick and demands money. First, they make video calls on WhatsApp in which a nude woman chats with the targeted victim. Then they record the victims chatting with the woman using a screen recording app. They send these videos to the victims and blackmail them for money.

Hyderabad:A bunch of cybercriminals has started blackmailing people trapped in their fake nude video call trick and demands money. First, they make video calls on WhatsApp in which a nude woman chats with the targeted victim. Then they record the victims chatting with the woman using a screen recording app. They send these videos to the victims and blackmail them for money.

This has been the modus operandi of cybercriminals using nude video call tricks. However, in a recent investigation into the increasing cybercrime complaints, the Hyderabad Cyber Crime officials have identified that the callers were not real women. The police went to Rajasthan’s Bharatpur, which has been the hub of cybercrimes. They arrested the scamsters and presented them for trial at the high court. The cybercrime gangs have supposedly extorted Rs 25 crores in the last 6 months.

The scamsters target young people and professionals based in big cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad through Facebook and other social media apps. After chatting with them for a day or two, they exchange phone numbers. The victims then receive a video call on WhatsApp or other video-enabled platforms from a nude woman. The recorded video clip is used to blackmail victims. When the police investigated, it was revealed that the woman was a 'deep fake' created using technology. Virtual computer-generated voice and movements were used to lure victims.

After a few days of nude video calls, the scamsters ask the victim to go naked. Once the victim takes off their clothes, they lure them into showing their face. The entire call would be recorded, and later used to extort money. Victims are left with no choice but to pay huge sums of money out of fear.

A software engineer from Jubilee Hills became friends on Facebook with a cybercriminal pretending to be a woman. After a few weeks, the scamster threatened to post nude videos of the victim on social media and extorted Rs 12 lakh. A doctor in Ashok Nagar received a WhatsApp call from an unknown woman.

She asked the doctor to go naked on camera. Though he refused at first, he did it after repeated requests from the woman. In a complaint to the police, the victim said that he transferred Rs 15 lakh to the cyber fraudsters. Experts claim that the best way to avoid such situations is to keep private accounts on social media, decline friend requests from strangers, and complain to the cybercrime department instead of falling prey to extortion.