Hyderabad police arrest a 23-year-old man for alleged online sextortion and fraud involving fake social media profiles, with nearly 1,000 victims and ₹26.16 lakh allegedly involved.
HYDERABAD: The Saidabad police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly running a network of fake social media profiles to lure men into intimate online conversations, obtain their private photographs and videos, and extort money by threatening to make the material public. Preliminary investigations suggest that nearly 1,000 people may have been defrauded, with the accused allegedly siphoning off ₹26.16 lakh over four years.
The accused, K. Pavan Kumar, a native of Tekulapalli mandal in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, was residing in Balaji Nagar, Kukatpally, at the time of his arrest. Police seized three mobile phones, SIM cards, a laptop and a pen drive from him.
According to the police, the case came to light following a complaint from a victim who alleged that he had been subjected to sustained intimidation and financial extortion.
Addressing the media at the Charminar Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police’s office on Monday, DCP Khare Kiran Prabhakar, along with Additional DCP M.D. Majid, Saidabad ACP Venkat Reddy and Inspector Chandra Mohan, outlined the alleged modus operandi.
Investigators said the accused had created 13 Instagram accounts and 14 Facebook accounts using women's names and photographs. He allegedly used these profiles to initiate conversations with men who were active on social media, gradually building trust and obtaining their personal details and telephone numbers.
Once the conversations became intimate, he allegedly encouraged victims to exchange explicit messages and persuaded some of them to share nude photographs and videos.
Police said the accused subsequently threatened to circulate the material on social media, posing as the woman's brother, and demanded money to prevent its publication. The fear of public exposure allegedly enabled him to extort money from multiple victims.
The police also found that the accused had allegedly cheated a software engineer of ₹7 lakh by promising substantial returns on an investment.
The alleged fraud had a wide geographical reach, with victims reportedly located in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab, as well as Dubai, Türkiye, Pakistan and Canada.
Among those allegedly targeted were 14 police personnel, along with doctors, businesspeople, teachers, private-sector employees, delivery personnel, gig workers and drivers. Preliminary findings also indicated that some of the victims were inspectors and Additional Deputy Commissioners of Police.
Investigators said the accused had used photographs belonging to a young woman YouTube influencer based in Kolkata to create the fake profiles. The police have alerted the organisation where she works and the local police concerned, the DCP said.
The accused had previously worked for a loan company and another organisation for a few months before leaving those jobs, according to the police.
The investigation is under way to establish the full extent of the alleged fraud, identify additional victims and examine the digital evidence recovered from the accused.
Police have urged people to exercise caution when interacting with unknown individuals online, avoid sharing intimate photographs or videos with unverified contacts, and report threats involving the circulation of private material to the authorities.
