Last Updated: September 10, 2022, 19:52 IST
(Video call scam. Credit: Twitter/@CyberDost)
Do not pick up video calls from random numbers, it can cost you a lot of money.
Online scams have become a normal thing these days. There are hundreds of ways for fraudsters to scam you online these days. One of those ways is using video calls to scam people. Yes, you heard that right, a scam that takes place via video calls and involves blackmailing is also pretty common.
As per reports earlier this year, people got video calls from random numbers where the fraudsters trick them and blackmail users with screenshots and morphed images. Several such cases were reported earlier this year, with people being blackailed into paying as much as Rs 55,000 to fraudsters.
How this scam works is that the scammers send a video call from women. A scam mostly targeting men, when the person answers the call, they find a half-naked girl on video call. If the victim reciprocates in similar fashion, that’s when the scammers record video or take screenshots and threaten to post it on social media. They ask the victim to pay a huge sum of money in order to not post photos or videos.
Such frauds are common on dating apps and other video calling platforms including WhatsApp as well. This saw a surge during the first COVID-19 wave. In a case earlier this year, a random video call had cost a 30-year-old Rs 55,000.
To keep yourself safe from these kinds of hacks, the first and the foremost thing to do is to never receive video calls from random numbers. Users can also change their privacy settings and keep things as watertight as possible. Your phone number or other account IDs, or even contacts list should be visible to unknown people on any of the online platforms.
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