Families searching for missing girls in Bhopal are falling victim to cyber fraudsters who use social media details to make credible ransom demands, police warn. Authorities advise caution amid rising scam reports linked to online appeals for help.
Cyber fraudsters are exploiting the anguish of families searching for missing girls in Bhopal, where police say relatives have received suspicious calls soon after filing missing-person complaints, with callers claiming to know where the girls are and demanding payment for their return. Investigators believe the scammers may be drawing on details shared in social media appeals, turning public pleas for help into a tool for extortion.
In one recent case, a Class 8 pupil from Shivaji Nagar disappeared on August 6, prompting her father to file a report with MP Nagar police. Soon afterwards, an unknown caller allegedly said the girl was safe at a hotel and asked for Rs 25,000. Police traced the number to a location outside Madhya Pradesh and later recovered the girl near an abandoned structure close to her home, although officers said they still do not know how the fraudster obtained the missing-person information.
Additional DCP Shailendra Singh Chauhan has urged families not to panic or transfer money if they receive such calls. He advised them to save the caller’s number, any messages or recordings and details of the demand before passing the material to police. The warning reflects a broader concern among cyber police that more such cases may emerge as families increasingly post missing-person alerts online.
A similar complaint has also emerged from Satna district, where the family of a 21-year-old woman who went missing in the Rampur Baghelan area has reportedly been fielding calls from suspected fraudsters demanding between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh. The pattern fits a wider scam identified by US authorities as well, with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre warning that criminals can use social media to identify vulnerable families and make their ransom demands sound credible.
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