WhatsApp chats hacked, 100 women blackmailed in NCR

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, June 20

The cyber crime branch of the Faridabad police has cracked a case of alleged blackmailing of WhatsApp users on the basis of information acquired by hacking their personal details from the social media platform. Three persons, including a woman, have been arrested.

Manish Kumar of Palwal allegedly used to hack personal details and chats of female WhatsApp users. He used to obtain phone numbers of his intended targets from Sattar Khan, who was engaged for number portability work by a telecom service provider.

The accused then used to ring up victims, took them into confidence, and convinced them to take calls from unknown numbers during conferencing.

As soon as any victim did so, he would hack into her WhatsApp chats. He would then threaten her with making her WhatsApp chat public unless she transferred money into his online account. “He used to demand anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 10,000 from every victim," the police said.

How they targeted & trapped their victims

• Manish Kumar of Palwal obtained phone numbers of female WhatsApp users from Sattar Khan who worked for a telecom service provider
• He would then ring up his victims, take them into confidence and convince them to take calls from unknown numbers during conferencing
• As soon as the victim did so, he would hack into her WhatsApp chats and later blackmail her for money
• The gang members have admitted to have blackmailed at least 100 women from Faridabad, Palwal, Gurugram and New Delhi over the past three years