Fraudster held for posing as YouTube employee in Delhi, trapping hundreds in sextortion racket

A 27-year-old man, who had been posing as “Rahul Sharma”, a YouTube employee, has reportedly been arrested for his role in a large-scale sextortion racket.

The accused allegedly extorted hundreds of victims by threatening to upload their private videos on social media, according to a news agency ANI report on Tuesday.

According to an official release from the Crime Branch, Delhi, cited by ANI, “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.”

To execute the extortion scheme, the accused, identified as Sahid, assumed multiple identities. At times, he introduced himself as “Rahul Sharma from YouTube,” while on other occasions, he pretended to be “Inspector Surender Kumar from the Crime Branch, Delhi Police.”

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Authorities revealed that he had been extorting people for several months. Further investigation into the case is underway.

According to the Delhi cyber crime branch, “Sextortion 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.”

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Accused recorded private videos through WhatsApp video calls

The accused employed the same tactic to blackmail and extort hundreds of victims by capturing their private videos via WhatsApp video calls.

Hailing from Rajasthan, he was wanted in connection with FIR No. 281/2022 and had a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) issued against him. The case was registered under sections 384, 419, 420, and 120-B of the IPC at the PS Crime Branch, Delhi. As per the official release, the FIR was filed on November 30, 2022, at the PS Crime Branch, Delhi, under the same legal provisions.

The complainant said that in November 2022, he received a phone call from someone claiming to be a YouTube employee named “Rahul Sharma,” who blackmailed him by alleging possession of an objectionable video and demanding money to prevent its release on social media.

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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 ₹3,61,000 to different bank accounts. However, he continued to receive extortion calls from various mobile numbers, leading him to transfer an additional ₹25 lakh on multiple occasions.”

Further inquiry said that cybercriminals had befriended the complainant on social media, obtained compromising photos and videos, and later used them to extort money from him.

How police tracked down sextortion scam accused

According to the release, senior officers had directed efforts to track down the wanted accused. Sub-Inspector Harvinder and his team had been actively working on the case, conducting multiple raids at hideouts in Nuh, Haryana, and Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

Through technical surveillance, they were able to locate the accused in Haryana's Yamuna Nagar. Acting on this information, a raid was carried out, leading to his arrest. He was later presented before the Hon’ble Court, which granted a five-day police custody remand to facilitate the arrest of other co-accused and recover the extorted money.

During interrogation, the accused, identified as Shahid, shared details about his background. As per the release, he said that he had studied up to the third grade at a government school in Gokulpur, Nuh, Haryana. He reportedly lost both parents at a young age and got married in 2009, eventually having five children. Struggling to support his family as a farmer, he faced financial hardships.

The release further mentioned that in 2022, Shahid came into contact with a man named Wasim, a resident of Kannaur, Jaipur, Rajasthan, who was linked to a sextortion gang led by Majid. Seeking financial gain, he decided to join the group.

(With ANI inputs)