THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 53-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh living in Poojapura lost Rs 3 lakhs after being trapped in a honeytrap through a fake video call. The criminal got acquainted with this person after creating a fake ID in the name of a girl on Facebook. The criminal then asked for his WhatsApp number.

After the man gave his number, he received a video call on WhatsApp. When he picked up the call, he saw a naked woman on the other end. The call suddenly got disconnected. Later, he started receiving threatening messages saying that the video footage would be sent to his relatives and others unless he gave them money. In his complaint lodged with the Poojapura police, the Uttar Pradesh native said that the accused swindled around Rs 3 lakhs from him by threatening to circulate the video.

It is indicated that during the preliminary investigation conducted by the Poojappura police, the IP address of the sender of the threat message was found to be from outside the country. The police suspect that the IP spoofing technique, which creates fake IP addresses from many places, was used in this case. A case has been registered in the cyber cell.