Hyderabad cybercrimes police nabs ex-product designer in sextortion scam

The accused, identified as Riddh Bedi, 26, a resident of Brookefield, Bangalore, was apprehended by the police for his involvement in a well-organized fraud scheme using dating websites to lure victims into compromising situations and extort money.

A complainant reported that his son residing in California, USA was blackmailed and extorted for a total amount of $1,721 by Bedi who posed as a woman on a dating platform and lured the victim into sharing personal information and sensitive images.

Using this information, the accused threatened to expose the victim to his social circle unless a ransom was paid. The victim made several transactions to an Indian mobile number linked to bank accounts.

After the victim stopped responding, Bedi escalated the threats by sending obscene messages to the victim’s family and workplace, further traumatizing the victim, said Dara Kavitha, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, Cybercrimes.

According to her, Bedi, a former product designer, turned to online scams after losing his job, in order to support his lavish lifestyle. He created fake profiles on dating websites like seeking.com, using stolen images of women to lure unsuspecting victims into sending sensitive photos.

Once he obtained these images, he blackmailed the victims, threatening to release the compromising content unless they paid large sums of money. To facilitate the transfer of these funds from the US to India, Bedi instructed the victims to use online payment platforms, which are commonly used in the US for transferring funds quickly and easily. The money was later routed to his Indian bank accounts.

To avoid detection, the accused used multiple phone numbers, email addresses, and social media platforms, taking careful steps to cover his tracks.

A team from the Cybercrimes police station led by Inspector P Pramod Kumar and Sub-Inspector Venkatadri proceeded to Bengaluru and coordinated with Whitefield police station to nab Bedi.

Upon interrogation, Bedi admitted his involvement in the crime. A laptop, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB hardisk, a monitor, keyboard, CPU and other electronic gadgets were recovered from the possession of the arrested person.

Kavitha said Bedi studied mechanical engineering in California, USA, where he stayed for six years. He was addicted to action role-playing games (RPGs) and battle royale games. He was residing alone at Ashima Villa in prime area in Bengaluru, where he pays rent of approximately Rs.75,000 per month.

He uses high-speed internet with speeds of 1,000 Mbps to ensure uninterrupted connection while chatting with victims. This kind of bandwidth is often favored by tech-based businesses that require fast data transfer and stable connections to support multiple users and devices simultaneously.

Bedi’s daily routine differs from standard Indian timings and he typically sleeps during the day and works at night, specifically targeting US citizens.

The police urged the general public to be cautious about sharing personal information online, especially on dating platforms, not to send money to anyone in fear without proper verification and to report any suspicious activity to the police immediately.