Simply scanning the internet for escort services proved to be costly for a 25-year-old software engineer, who was cheated of Rs 48,500 when he tried to set up a meeting with a sex worker.
According to police, the victim is an employee of a private firm and a paying guest at an accommodation in Kundalahalli. As he was looking for escort services online, he soon received a call from a person claiming to be a pimp through a classified ads portal, police added.
The police said the engineer agreed to pay Rs 4,000 for a two-hour session but the caller demanded additional money citing different reasons. The total sum that he lost ended up being Rs 48,500 in multiple transactions, but the woman never showed.
Police have registered a case under relevant sections pertaining to cheating in the IPC and the Information Technology Act.
The engineer, in his complaint, told the police that he found the phone number in a classified ads portal and tried to contact through WhatsApp. The call went unanswered but he later received a message quoting Rs 4,000 for a two-hour session, he said.
The victim agreed to the terms and booked the service while the caller shared a live location near Brigade Tech Park in Brookefield, police said. The caller demanded Rs 5,500 over the phone, citing reasons such as safety charges for the woman, they added.
The victim, police said, was asked to pay via digital payment apps. The caller and his aides collected Rs 11,000 and Rs 25,000 on various pretexts, they added. The engineer, however, realised he was being cheated but by that time, he had lost Rs 48,500.
Cybercrime cases shoot up in Bengaluru in 2023, detection low
Cybercrimes have shot up by a whopping 77 percent in 2023 in Bengaluru compared to the previous calendar year with the police registering 17,623 cases. Official data shows 6,422 cybercrime cases were reported in the Karnataka capital in 2021 and 9,940 in 2022. Out of 17,623 cases reported in 2023, the police could detect only 1,271.
A senior police officer said cybercrime has been the biggest challenge for the city police and such cases are now being registered in all police stations, leading to a spike in complaints. “Even complaints from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and complaints received at 112 (all-in-one emergency helpline number) gets converted into FIRs. Through the social media accounts of the city police, the Bengaluru Police has also started its awareness campaign by giving cyber tips,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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