Sextortion Through a Video Call Recording over the phone

How it looks over the phone, the red flags and what to do.

Callers pretend to be bank staff, police, a courier, a telecom officer or a relative, and they try to keep you on the line while you act. Sextortion Through a Video Call Recording is one of the ways this shows up: A friendly stranger starts a video call, a recording is made and you are threatened with sharing it. Learn what to do and why not to pay.

What sextortion through a video call recording looks like over the phone

• Instructions to install a screen-sharing app or to press keys on the phone.
• A second "senior officer" who takes over the call.
• An unknown or international number, or a number that looks like a real office.

The scammer creates an attractive fake profile and sends friend requests to many men. After a few friendly messages, he asks to move to a video call. Pre-recorded clips or a live accomplice are used on the other side. The call is screen-recorded, and the scammer may also capture your face and the list of your contacts from your public profile, which is easy to find.

Red flags to check on the phone call

• A stranger quickly moves from friendly chat to a video call.
• The call lasts a short time, and the other person acts oddly or shows pre-recorded content.
• Threats follow with your contacts' photos attached.
• A second person claims to be police or a cyber officer demanding a settlement.
• The caller wants you to install an app to "fix" something.
• The caller asks for an OTP, UPI PIN, card PIN or CVV.

What to do

1. Do not pay and do not reply to the threats; stop all contact and block the account.
2. Take screenshots of the profile, chat and threats, and note the payment details they gave.
3. Tighten privacy on your social profiles and hide your friend list.
4. Call the bank or office on the number printed on your card, bill or official app, not on a number the caller gave.
5. Never share an OTP or PIN. No genuine staff member needs it.
6. If you already installed an app on the call, uninstall it and switch on airplane mode, then call your bank at once.

Report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility). If money moved, call 1930 immediately.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in with the payment reference.
2. Do not pay again; further payments usually lead to more demands.
3. Report the profile to the social platform and ask for the content to be taken down.
4. Tell your bank through its official app and keep all screenshots as evidence.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio Sentinel cannot see or remove videos held by someone else. You can paste threatening messages into Scam check to see the reasons they look like pressure and fake authority, and use Link check before opening any link they send. The Family feature gives you a private end-to-end encrypted chat to talk to someone you trust. Safeavio cannot stop a recording from being shared and cannot recover money.

Full guide: Sextortion Through a Video Call Recording: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: WhatsApp, social media, fake app.

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