The Federal Investigation Agency’s cyber-crime wing apprehended a father-son duo in Peshawar late Wednesday night for blackmailing a minor girl living in the United States of America.
According to FIA Deputy Director Tahir Khan, the accused persons sexually extorted the minor girl after accessing her private pictures by hacking into her Snapchat account.
It is pertinent to note that the son confessed to the crime and his father was subsequently released.
A first information report was registered in this regard after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) contacted the FIA and apprised them of the crime originating out of Pakistan.
Sources familiar with the matter said the minor female hailing from Virginia was a victim of ‘sextortion’ by the accused suspect living in Peshawar’s Hayatabad area.
The FIR relays that the girl’s Snapchat account was taken over by an unidentified person who locked the victim out of her account followed by threats to release her nude photos if she did not comply with whatever she would be asked to do so that included chatting on the web and producing child pornography.
The entire communication took place through the suspect’s Instagram account. The victim and law enforcement agencies contacted the Snapchat management in this regard but the company failed to entertain their request.
Meanwhile, the suspect sent the victim’s private photos to her contacts on Snapchat via direct messaging.
An administrative subpoena was issued in this regard that prompted the Facebook management to provide information about the Instagram account being used by the suspect to the FBI.
Consequently, an inquiry was initiated by the FIA based on the FBI’s communiqué. The FIA managed to obtain a warrant and the suspect’s home was raided during which the father-son duo was arrested and their mobile phones were seized.
The FIR states that the mobile number being used by the suspect was registered in the name of his father. However, the suspect confessed to the crime following which his father was released on a bail bond.
During interrogation, the accused person admitted to gaining illegal access to the minor girl’s Snapchat account and he found nude pictures of her after thoroughly browsing through the social media account.
Few pictures of the victim were also found in the boy’s phone. There is enough evidence available with the law enforcement agency that connects the accused to the crime.
The FIR was registered under Section 3 (unauthorised access to information system or data), Section 4 (unauthorised copy of transmission of data), Section 21 (offences against modesty of a natural person or minor) and Section 22 (child pornography) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2021.
1732003896-0/Zendaya-(1)1732003896-0-165x106.webp "article")
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ