A 22-year-old software professional signed up on a dating app, hoping to make some real connections. Little did he know that he was speaking to a deepfake girlfriend, created by generative AI, trapped in a sextortion scam, where he lost Rs 1.5 lakh.
A 22-year-old software professional, who was searching for a connection on a dating app, fell prey to a sextortion scam powered by generative AI. The young techie was unknowingly interacting with a deepfake “girlfriend” and lost Rs 1.5 lakh. The victim, Nishanth (name changed), a cloud engineer residing in Ejipura, told police that he had signed up on the dating app Happn in early January, hoping to form real connections. On January 5, he matched with a woman who introduced herself as “Ishani.” After exchanging messages and sharing basic personal details, their conversation soon shifted to WhatsApp.
Later that same day, Nishanth received a video call from her number. During the call, the woman spoke intimately and gradually persuaded him to undress. The entire interaction was being secretly recorded. Moments after the call ended, he was bombarded with threatening messages and calls, warning that the explicit video would be shared with his friends and contacts and even made viral if he did not comply with their demands.
Terrified, the young engineer initially transferred Rs 60,000 to the fraudsters. However, the extortion only escalated. He then reached out to a friend and went on to transfer another Rs 93,000 in multiple transactions — both to a bank account and two UPI IDs — through a digital payment application shared by the accused. The payments were completed by 4.30 pm on January 6.
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Despite receiving the money, the fraudsters continued to pressure him for more. Distressed, Nishanth finally confided in close friends, who asked him to report the matter to the police.
Following his complaint, the central cybercrime police station registered a case under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and Section 308 (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police have launched an investigation to track down the accused.
Police believe the scammers used an AI-generated video of a woman in an intimate setting to lure the victim. “Many people believe the person on the video call is genuine and live, which leads them into trouble. We noticed sextortion cases originating from dating apps are increasing, so we urge users to exercise caution while interacting with strangers online,” the officer added.
