4 cheats trap 'friends' in a web on dating apps, extort money

Bengaluru: Four-members of a gang that was involved in creating fake profiles on social media sites -- Facebook, Instagram and dating apps -- and blackmailing victims, have been arrested, the Cyber Crime Division (CCD) of the Karnataka Police said here on Thursday.

The have been identified as Sahun, Sharukh Khan, Nasir and Shahid Anwar, all are residents of Bengaluru, police said.

The CCD police said that the four arrested persons were not the main culprits but played a significant role in assisting a gang that is involved in such fraudulent activities. "Most of the gang members are absconding at the moment as they have come to know about our action after we picked these four persons," the police said.

The gang used to pick its victims only from its known friends circle on the social media platforms. "The arrested four members have played a role in identifying such victims. They used to gather information about the victim's economic conditions. They ensured that their cover was never blown to victims," the police said. The police added that after identifying their victims they used to create fake profiles impersonating as 'women in need' of help or a highly fashionable woman.

"Initially the gang ensured that their chat revolved around common subjects, then the gang would send feelers about the woman was okay with online flirting, from flirting to intimate chat to sex chat. Here the gang ensured that victim send his nude pictures and video clips especially asking him to record his 'needs' in romantic gestures. Once the gang felt that they have gathered enough 'evidence' to blackmail him, one of the male members used to call him by identifying as either the elder brother or husband and then start blackmailing the victim. The chain of blackmailing continued for multiple times, until the victims went broke financially," the police explained.

The police said that one such victim mustered courage and lodged a complaint with the CCD police. When the police caught the four persons, the victim was shocked to know that one of the arrested had befriended him during a common friend's marriage party. "It was he who had introduced him to dating apps through which he had become a victim," the police said.