Retired govt engineer defrauded of Rs 3.95 crore in cyber sextortion

Thane, Feb 8 (PTI) A 62-year-old retired engineer of the Maharashtra government allegedly lost more than Rs 3.95 crore in a cyber fraud cum sextortion, police said on Sunday.

Police have registered an FIR against a woman and her accomplices after they allegedly lured the victim into a fraudulent international trading scheme and later attempted to extort an additional Rs 2 crore through blackmail.

Sextortion is extortion in which a perpetrator threatens to expose sexually compromising information, such as sexually explicit private images or videos of the victim, if certain demands are met.

The ordeal began on July 17, 2025, when the victim received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number. The woman caller built a rapport with the victim over several weeks, eventually using "emotional appeals" and a "pretence of love" to gain his trust, police said.

She convinced him to open a trading account on a suspicious link, claiming her uncle in the US has provided exclusive access to high-profit international trading.

"Over the next seven months, the victim made 25 separate transactions to various bank accounts provided by the fraudsters. Driven by the promise of massive returns, he even took out loans to fund the investments," police said.

When he attempted to withdraw his supposed profits last month, he received explicit messages and photos from the woman, who then demanded nude photos of the victim under duress.

"On January 25, a man claiming to be the woman's uncle called the victim and threatened to file a rape and molestation case against him unless he paid an additional Rs 2 crore," a Wagle Estate Police Station officer said.

A case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and extortion, along with the provisions of the Information Technology Act.

"We have identified the primary suspect, a woman, and are currently tracing the money trail throughvarious bank accounts used in the commission of this crime," the officer added. PTI COR NSK