The Hyderabad Cybercrime Police have arrested Riddh Bedi, a 26-year-old man from Bengaluru, for his involvement in an elaborate sextortion scam carried out through online dating websites. Bedi is accused of blackmailing a victim’s son, a California resident, for a sum of Rs1,721.
The scam came to light after the victim, a resident of Hyderabad, filed a complaint reporting that his son, who resides in California, had been targeted by the fraudster. According to the complaint, the victim’s son was lured into an online conversation on a dating platform, where Bedi allegedly impersonated a woman and persuaded the victim’s son to share intimate photographs.
Once the photos were shared, Bedi blackmailed the victim, threatening to release the images unless a sum of Rs1,721 was paid. Fearing the exposure of his personal images, the victim’s son transferred the amount to the fraudster.
After receiving the complaint, the Hyderabad Cybercrime Police traced the scammer’s location and identified Riddh Bedi, a resident of Brookefield, Bengaluru. Bedi was arrested on Thursday, and police seized evidence linking him to the crime. The police have stated that Bedi operated the scam by using fake identities on dating websites to extort money from unsuspecting victims.