Fake MBBS student blackmails Mumbai doctor with nude photos, extorts Rs 94 lakh

Mumbai: In a recent case of cyber fraud, a 35-year-old city doctor has been allegedly cheated of nearly Rs 94 lakh after falling victim to an online sextortion case in which he was blackmailed with his own nude pictures that he shared with a woman he met online.

According to police, the doctor met a woman on social media in February who introduced herself as Somya Awasthi, claiming to be an MBBS student from Chandigarh. They soon exchanged phone numbers and began chatting regularly. She often told him she was lonely.

Over time, she would ask for gifts, and he would transfer money to a bank account she provided, but he never received any proof of the purchases from her. The complainant claimed that they eventually became close and their chats turned intimate. The woman shared nude pictures and asked him to share his own, which the doctor did.

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In May, she said she was coming to Mumbai, and he paid for her business class tickets. However, later, when he checked, there was no such flight coming on that day. The next day, she sent him a photo message, saying that hackers from Thailand had gained access to their photographs and chats. She told him they were demanding cryptocurrency, 3.10 bitcoin worth around Rs 2.5 crore, and threatened that if she did not pay, their intimate conversations would be leaked.

As per an Indian Express media report, the woman claimed that she had sold off her gold jewellery to pay him. She then said that if he did not make the payment, she would send their intimate clips to his workplace and medical association. In fear, the doctor took loans from several banks and transferred nearly Rs 94 lakh to the accounts she shared.

After transferring the money, he noticed that the account was in the name of Jasmeen Kaur, not Somya Awasthi. He became suspicious and went through her social media profile and checked with the college she claimed to be doing MBBS from. When he checked, he found that the woman was not a medical student but someone who had studied Arts.

Realising he had been cheated, the doctor approached the Cyber Police, who registered an FIR against unidentified persons on Friday. An officer said that they have some technical leads and teams have been sent to nab the accused.

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