The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) has uncovered information about a large-scale organised extortion racket being carried out through social media and messaging platforms such as Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
According to SLCERT, the racket is reportedly being operated from India, with scammers targeting individuals after first adding their relatives and friends, including siblings, to their social media accounts in order to give the impression that the scammer is a mutual friend.
As the initial step of the scheme, a message saying “Hi” is sent via Instagram from an account featuring the profile picture of an attractive young woman.
The scammers monitor those who respond and re-engages in conversation several days later, taking advantage of the profile picture’s appeal to prompt further responses from the target.
The scammers then send provocative images of the woman shown in the profile and attempt to entice victims into sending similar images or videos of themselves during WhatsApp video calls.
SLCERT said the scammers subsequently obtain nude videos or other compromising footage of victims and threaten to share the material with their family members and relatives unless the money demanded by the scammers is paid.
Accordingly, SLCERT has urged the public to exercise extreme caution when responding to messages, friend requests, or calls from unknown social media accounts and telephone numbers.
