A 61-year-old city doctor has lodged a police complaint alleging that his photographs had been captured after he answered WhatsApp video calls from unknown numbers and superimposed with objectionable pictures.
The doctor, a resident of Suren Sarkar Road in Phoolbagan, was allegedly threatened that the morphed pictures would be circulated on social media unless he transferred a particular amount to a bank account.
Being threatened, the doctor transferred Rs 5,100 to the account and reported the matter to police.
“The incident happened on Thursday night when the victim started receiving video calls on WhatsApp from unknown numbers. According to the complaint, he received multiple calls from two numbers between 9am and 11pm,” said an officer of Phoolbagan police station, where the complaint has been lodged.
The complainant then received multiple photographs in his Whatsapp account which purportedly showed his face superimposed on objectionable pictures, the police said.
“The gang members then started to threaten the doctor saying they would put these photographs on Facebook and other social media platforms”.
Scared of being maligned by the purportedly fake photographs, the doctor apparently transferred the amount to the bank account.
On Friday, he reported the matter to Phoolbagan police station and a case was registered under IPC sections related to extortion, defamation and criminal intimidation and also under the Information Technology Act.
Senior officers at Lalbazar said they had received several other cases of people falling prey to video calls from unknown numbers and later being threatened to shell out money.
The police said several gangs were at work. An officer at Lalbazar said: “Till now the pattern suggests that they make calls at random. If they are lucky, the receiver accepts the call. A minute’s WhatsApp video call is enough to record or capture photographs, which are later superimposed with obscene photographs.”
The police believe there are more such cases than what have been reported because most victims are ashamed to lodge complaints fearing humiliation.
“WhatsApp users should not answer video calls from an unknown number without first ascertaining whose number it is,” said an officer.
“If a suspicious call is received accidentally, disconnect and block the number immediately.
If someone blackmails with morphed photographs, report the matter to the police immediately.”