Beware! Don’t respond to random WhatsApp video calls; man ‘honey-trapped’, extorted Rs 71K

Bhubaneswar: Cybercriminals allegedly honey-trapped a youth in Odisha’s Khurda district and extorted Rs 71,000 from him, police said.

Victim Benudhara Muduli has filed a complaint before Bhubaneswar cyber police station. Speaking to media persons here on Wednesday, he alleged that he got a video call from an unidentified nude girl on his Whatsapp recently.

“Later, I got a call from a person who claimed to be IPS officer, Rahul Ji. He said that he has the nude pictures and videos, and a case will be registered against me. He demanded Rs 1.5 lakh to get out of the case,” Muduli said.

Afraid of a police case, Benudhar said he has transferred Rs 71,000 to the account numbers of the cyber criminals in four installments. The cyber police officials said they have initiated an investigation in this case.

This is not the first such case in Odisha. Recently, a Bhubaneswar-based engineer was honey-trapped in a similar manner and lost Rs 25 lakh.