Women targeted in this new WhatsApp scam for 'watching porn videos'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Reportedly, women fall victim to most of the latest scams on WhatsApp. Scamsters are extorting lakhs through WhatsApp focusing on international numbers. The police have been receiving widespread complaints about groups threatening women and housewives over obscene videos.

Following multiple incidents, the police are warning people to be careful not to answer WhatsApp calls from unfamiliar international numbers.

They make contacts on WhatsApp by introducing themselves as a top official of the cyber cell. In the next step, the scamsters will threaten that the victim's phone and data usage is being monitored by the cyber cell and they have been caught watching porn videos.

They will be informed that watching obscene videos is a crime and hence a case will be registered. The method of fraud is to take money from those who demand that the case be dropped.

The police say that if you get such calls, the cyber cell should be informed immediately. Do not respond to calls from strangers and avoid replying to messages. Also, do not try to open links that arrive as messages. You can call the police toll-free number 1090.