WhatsApp has been grabbing headlines recently for its privacy policy, however, apart from this, the Facebook-owned platform has also become a sanctum for cybercriminals as many users have reported that they are receiving video calls on WhatsApp from unknown numbers and after the user receives the call, the screen shows a video of a nude girl, and then the call gets disconnected.
Not only this, after the phone is disconnected, these cybercriminals send screenshots of the video and ask for money in return.
If a report from Medium is to be believed, if a user deletes the phone number, still they are not spared from this con. This case purely is of online extortion or can also be termed as cyber sextortion. If they don't get the money they desire, these people also threaten to upload the screenshots on the internet and make them viral.
According to a report in Zee News, these scammers, a lot of times, use their smooth language skills to trap the "customers" so that they can do sex chat on a video call.
Besides that, they ask for a lumpsum amount from the victim which puts them in financial distress.
In order to avoid these scammers, it is important to not befriend any unknown person via WhatsApp or taking any kind of calls from unknown numbers. Even if you take a video call, it is advisable to cover your face with a cloth or if you are exposed, just report the entire incident to the police so that they can help.
People on other platforms like Facebook Messenger, Telegram, or Signal should also practice the same and must not receive any unknown numbers or their requests.
