Mumbai school principal caught in ‘sextortion’ racket goes to cops – Times of India

MUMBAI: The headmaster of a Mumbai-based international school became the target of an extortion ring, which threatened to expose the sexual acts he committed in front of a webcam at the behest of a woman he had befriended on social media.

The cyber police unit at the Bandra Kurla Complex registered a complaint on April 16 after he approached the authorities on receiving an email on his official address demanding a ransom of $1,200 through Bitcoin with a warning that failure to pay would ruin his reputation. He was warned that the countdown for the payment had begun instantly from the moment he opened the mail.
The complainant, a middle-aged man, had befriended a woman on social media, who persuaded him to remove his clothes and perform sexual acts on video. In the complaint, the headmaster said, “I communicated with the woman through the Messenger social media app. Later, she asked me to share my WhatsApp number.”
Email to principal: ‘Pay up or will expose you’
In his complaint to cyber police against an online extortion attempt, the headmaster of an international school said, “One day, the woman identified as Pallaya Gavilyn asked me to connect with her on a video call and she was without her dress in front of the camera. She instructed me to undress which I did. For the next few days, she did not answer my calls or chat messages. Then I received the ransom mail from one email id ([email protected]) and a warning that this is your final notice.”
An officer at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) cyber police station said a team has been assigned to track the internet protocol address of the scamster, the call data, and the sender details of the mail.
The mail had said: “I broke into your computer through the wireless device you were connected to some time ago, I entered the machines that you used to get online. All the info from your electronic devices has been quickly copied to my machines. I can take advantage of all of your mobile device messengers, social media sites, e-mail, chat history, and list of contacts. My trojan repeatedly changes its personal signature (driver type), so it remains invisible to anti-malware software…I found out that you’re a major fan of mature web pages and like to visit porn websites.”
“Your act has been captured. I do not think this kind of information would be really good for your profile. I can send this footage out immediately to every person and will make it viral on the Internet. I think you realise what I mean. I am able to mess up your life for a long time. I think you seriously don’t want that to occur. Now let’s resolve it in such a manner: you transfer me 1200 S (dollars) thru Bitcoin equivalent at the time of exchange. I will promptly delete all of your data from my computers,” the mail said.
Cyber expert Ritesh Bhatia who too received a threat on July 25, 2018, threatening him to pay $3,000 in bitcoin for not posting pornography which he had watched online.
“I ignored the threat mail…I’ve been receiving calls from victims of sextortion scams, very few approach cops to lodge an FIR. It’s important to understand that the scammers do not have any videos or pictures of someone, even if they surf a pornographic website. Just because they have emailed you your correct username and password does not mean that they have compromised your device. There is no need to give in to their demands,” said Bhatia.