4 TN men accept video calls from nude woman, get blackmailed into paying Rs 19 lakh

At least four men — including a doctor and a college student — were extorted of about Rs 19 lakh after they accepted video calls made by apparently a naked woman. These calls were recorded and used to blackmail the men.

According to the Chennai police, the unidentified accused used the same method to lure the three complainants. They received a friend request on Facebook from a woman's profile and soon after they accepted it, the 'woman' chatted with them and shared her phone number.

The men also shared their contact details and immediately got a video call on WhatsApp. On accepting the call, they found out that the woman on the other side was nude. As they continued their conversation, the woman allegedly made them mimic sexual acts "for fun". After the call, however, each of them received recordings of their acts with a message asking them to pay up if they didn't want the videos to be leaked onto social media, and among friends.

While the college student reported the woman's profile on Facebook and blocked her number, he came to know that his nude video was shared with seven of his friends on Facebook, and his mother. 

After sending Rs 7,900 to the woman via PhonePe, the student thought that it may not have been an isolated incident and could be the work of a racket.

 The doctor — who is studying masters in the city — lost about Rs 6,000. But, two other victims, one from Nungambakkam lost Rs 1.93 lakh to the honey-trap after he got calls threatening to release the videos and report him to the police. Another man from T Nagar had to pay up Rs 17 lakh to the fraudsters. He had allegedly come across the phone number on makemefriends.com.

The cyber crime police of the Central Crime Branch have registered separate cases and are investigating if the same gang is involved with all the incidents.