The accused used to send fake police notices, payment codes for fines and extorted Rs. 30 lakhs in last 6 months

New Delhi, July 27

The Delhi Police Cyber Cell arrested three men who allegedly extorted money from people by telling them they had been found watching porn online which is illegal.

The accused were identified as B Dhinushanth the main accused and his brother who lives in Veal Pon in Cambodia who is the mastermind behind the racket. 

The other accused, Gabrial James and Ram Kumar, are residents of Chennai who aided Dhinushanth by providing account details and transferring money.

DCP (Cyber Cell) Anyesh Roy stated that they received complaints online about fake ads and pop-ups warning internet users that they were caught watching pornography and it’s illegal. The accused extorted Rs. 30 lakhs in last six months. 

The CyPad of Delhi Police said that the used to send fake police notices to their targets, asking them to pay a fine of Rs 3,000 or face legal action.

According to the CyPad, the fake notices would say their computer will be “blocked” as they have been caught watching pornographic content which is sexually violent or involves paedophilia. These notices also had UPI payment and QR code payment options to pay the ‘fines’. 

During investigation, police found that the notices were routed from foreign locations. When the police checked the bank accounts and transactions of the victims and followed the money trail. The accounts were set up in Tamil Nadu. 

The police have seized 20 bank accounts that were allegedly used to receive money and form a trail to hide transactions.