Accused arrested for blackmailing victims as 'Rahul Sharma' of YouTube

New Delhi [India], February 25 (ANI): A 27-year-old man, who had been posing as a "Rahul Sharma," an employee of YouTube, was arrested for his involvement in a widespread sextortion scheme. The accused had extorted hundreds of individuals by threatening to upload their private videos on social media.
As per an official release from The Crime Branch, Delhi "Accused used to pose as one "Rahul Sharma", an employee of Youtube. He used to blackmail victims by pretending to be an employee of Youtube and threatening to upload their private videos on Youtube. He had also impersonated as one Inspector Surender from Cyber Crime of Delhi Police."
The accused had adopted the same Modus Operandi to blackmail and "sextort" hundreds of people after recording their private videos via a WhatsApp video call.
The accused is from Rajasthan whose NBW was issued in case FIR No. 281/2022, u/s 384/419/420/120-B IPC, PS Crime Branch, Delhi.
The release notes that an FIR No. 281/2022 was registered on 30.11.2022 at PS Crime Branch, Delhi, u/s:- 384/419/420/120-B IPC. The complainant stated that in the month of November 2022, he received a phone call from a "YouTube employee named Rahul Sharma". The caller blackmailed him, claiming to possess an objectionable video of the complainant and demanding money to prevent its release on social media.
As per the release, "Investigations revealed that the so-called "Rahul Sharma" was acting as an agent of one Sandeep Aggarwal (arrested earlier), who along with a gang of cyber fraudsters, orchestrated an extortion scheme.Under the fear of reputational damage, the complainant initially transferred Rs3,61,000 to different bank accounts. However, he continued to receive extortion calls from various mobile numbers, leading him to transfer an additional Rs25 lakh on multiple occasions."
According to the release, further inquiry established that the complainant had been targeted by cybercriminals who had befriended him on social media and obtained compromising photos and videos, which were then used to blackmail him.
The release states, "As per the directions of senior officers, to trace the wanted/absconding accused in this case SI Harvinder, along with his team, had been working. Raiding team conducted various raids at the hideouts in Nuh, Haryana and Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Further, on technical surveillance, the position of accused was found in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. The team swung into action, a raid was conducted and the accused was arrested. He was produced before the Hon'ble Court and obtained 05 days PC remand to arrest other co-accused and recover all cheated amount."
"During interrogation, the accused, Shahid, disclosed that he has studied up to the 3rd grade at a government school in Gokulpur, Nuh, Haryana. He lost both his parents during childhood. In 2009, he got married and now has five children. Working as a farmer, he struggled to meet his family's daily needs", the release continues
The release notes, "In 2022, he, along with some acquaintances, came into contact with a person named Wasim, a resident of Kannaur, Jaipur, Rajasthan. Wasim was associated with a sextortion gang led by one Majid. Seeking financial gain, Sahid joined the gang.
To carry out the extortion scheme, Sahid impersonated different identities. At times, he posed as "Rahul Sharma from YouTube," while on other occasions, he pretended to be "Inspector Surender Kumar from the Crime Branch, Delhi Police". Over the past several months, the accused had indulged in extorting hundreds of people. Further investigation of the case is going on."
The release notes, "Sectortion is a form of notorious cybercrime that has rattled people from across the country for quite some time now is online extortion, after recording objectionable videos of unsuspecting people by the means of video calls, mostly through WhatsApp. The victims are then blackmailed by cyber criminals who assume fake identities of Social Media employees, police officers, etc. Sometimes, the victims end up paying lakhs of rupees to these cyber criminals." (ANI)