Bengaluru: police say a man paid Rs 1.85 lakh after a dating-app contact threatened to circulate an AI-manipulated obscene video of him
Deccan Herald reports, citing Bengaluru police, that a 23-year-old man lost Rs 1.85 lakh in an alleged sextortion scam. He matched with a woman on a dating app on 27 September 2026 and exchanged numbers; he told police that he then received a WhatsApp video call from her number lasting five to six seconds. Police said he then received an obscene video manipulated using AI and the sender threatened to circulate it unless he paid. Fearing exposure, he borrowed money from a friend and transferred Rs 1.85 lakh to several UPI IDs between 27 and 29 September as the threats continued, a police officer said. Police registered a first information report on his online cybercrime complaint and are trying to trace the suspects. The report does not say how police established that the video was AI-manipulated, and the tool is not named.
- AI system
- Unidentified video tool
- Occurred
- 27 Sept 2026 to 29 Sept 2026
- Reported
- 12 October 2026
- Event location
- India
- What the AI did
- Depicted or impersonated the person
- Reported harm
- Exploitation or AbuseFinancial LossPsychological Distress
- Whose AI use
- Someone else’s AI use
- Setting
- Relationships · Finance · Privacy
- Evidence
- AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source
- 4 claims: 4 reported. 4 open questions
- People reported harmed
- 1 person
AI system as recorded: AI used to manipulate an obscene video of the victim, as police describe it to Deccan Herald (tool not identified)
What Happened
The account. Deccan Herald (DHNS, published 12 October 2026, 03:08 IST) reports, attributing the account to police, that a 23-year-old man matched with a woman on a dating app on 27 September and later exchanged phone numbers with her. He told police he then received a WhatsApp video call from her number that lasted five to six seconds. According to police, a few moments later he received an obscene video manipulated using artificial intelligence, and the sender threatened to circulate it unless he paid.
The payments. A police officer said that, fearing exposure, he borrowed money from a friend and transferred Rs 1.85 lakh to multiple UPI IDs between 27 and 29 September as the threats continued.
Police response. He later filed an online cybercrime complaint. Police registered a first information report for identity theft, cheating by personation using computer resources, cheating and cheating by personation, and are trying to trace the suspects and recover the money. A senior cybercrime investigator told the outlet, speaking generally, that online dating is increasingly exploited and that visuals are easy to manipulate with AI.
What is not established. The report is a single outlet's account of police statements. It does not say whether investigators examined the video or how they established that it was AI-manipulated, and it does not name the tool. The real identity of the contact is unknown; the name the outlet gives for her is not repeated here.
Reported harm
According to police as reported by Deccan Herald, the man was threatened with an AI-manipulated obscene video of himself and, fearing exposure, borrowed money and transferred Rs 1.85 lakh to the senders between 27 and 29 September 2026.
Outcome
OngoingAfter his online cybercrime complaint, Bengaluru police registered a first information report under sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act and sections 318 and 319 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. As of the 12 October 2026 report, police were trying to trace the suspects and recover the money; no arrest is reported.
What remains unknown
- How police established that the video was AI-manipulated, and whether they examined it; the tool is not named
- The real identity of the dating-app contact and of whoever sent the video and the threats
- Whether the video was circulated to anyone
- Whether any money has been recovered or anyone arrested
What the evidence supports
AI involvement: reported. Deccan Herald attributes to Bengaluru police the statement that, after a five-to-six-second WhatsApp video call, the man received an obscene video manipulated using artificial intelligence and was told it would be circulated unless he paid. The AI-manipulated video depicts him (depicted_or_impersonated) and was the instrument of the threat that led to his payments. Police are the investigating party, but the report does not disclose the technical basis for their description, whether they examined the video, or the tool.
4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean
Reported The man matched with a woman on a dating app on 27 September 2026, later exchanged numbers, and then received a WhatsApp video call from her number lasting five to six seconds.
Causal attribution. The victim's account to police as reported by one outlet.
- deccanherald.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'The victim matched with a woman identified as'; 'on September 27 and later exchanged phone numbers with her.'; 'Soon after, he received a WhatsApp video call from her number that lasted just five to six seconds, he told police.'
Reported According to police, the man then received an obscene video manipulated using AI, and the sender threatened to circulate it unless he paid.
Causal attribution. Police statement relayed by one outlet; the basis for the AI description is not disclosed.
- deccanherald.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'A few moments later, he received an obscene video manipulated using Artificial Intelligence (AI). The sender threatened to circulate it unless he paid money, police said.'
Reported Fearing exposure, he borrowed money from a friend and transferred Rs 1.85 lakh to multiple UPI IDs between 27 and 29 September as the threats continued.
Causal attribution. A police officer's statement relayed by one outlet.
- deccanherald.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'Fearing exposure, the victim borrowed money from a friend and transferred Rs 1.85 lakh to multiple UPI IDs between September 27 and 29, as the threats continued, a police officer said.'
Reported After his online cybercrime complaint, police registered a first information report under IT Act sections 66C and 66D and BNS sections 318 and 319 and are trying to trace the suspects and recover the money.
Causal attribution. Police action as reported by one outlet.
- deccanherald.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'The victim later filed an online cybercrime complaint. Police registered an FIR under Sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act, and Sections 318 (cheating) and 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).'; 'Police are investigating and trying to trace the suspects and recover the money.'
Sources
1 source inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.
- Deccan Herald, 12 October 2026: online date threatens Bengaluru man with AI-morphed video, extorts Rs 1.85 lakh(opens in new tab)
s1 · deccanherald.com · News report · English · Inspected · 12 October 2026 · Primary
How the sources were read, and where the events happened
Read in English on 2026-10-12 (HTTP 200, AMP and canonical pages). Deccan Herald staff report (DHNS) based on police statements, published 12 October 2026 03:08 IST. Applies to s1.
Event countries: India. Affected-person countries: India. Court countries: Unknown.
Event: the victim is described as a man in Bengaluru, and Bengaluru police registered the case; where the senders were is unknown. Affected person: the body places him in Bengaluru. No court is involved.
Reviewed for publication 2026-10-12: Published as a reported single-source case: Deccan Herald attributes to Bengaluru police the account that a man received an obscene AI-manipulated video of himself after a short WhatsApp video call with a dating-app contact, was threatened with its circulation, and paid Rs 1.85 lakh between 27 and 29 September 2026; police registered a first information report. The AI description is the investigating police's as relayed, with its technical basis undisclosed. Identity is minimised to the city; the neighbourhood and the contact's app name are omitted.
People described
A 23-year-old man in Bengaluru who, after meeting a contact on a dating app, was threatened with an AI-manipulated obscene video of himself and paid
People reported harmed in this case
1 person
0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed
One person: the man depicted in the video and threatened with it, who paid. The friend who lent him money is not counted. He did not use the AI.
Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.
Cite this case
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2026). Bengaluru: police say a man paid Rs 1.85 lakh after a dating-app contact threatened to circulate an AI-manipulated obscene video of him. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-bengaluru-dating-app-sextortion-ai-manipulated-obscene-video-man-pays-1-85-lakh
BibTeX
@misc{2026_bengaluru_dating_app_sextortion_ai_manipulated_obscene_video_man_pays_1_85_lakh,
title = {Bengaluru: police say a man paid Rs 1.85 lakh after a dating-app contact threatened to circulate an AI-manipulated obscene video of him},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI incidents},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-bengaluru-dating-app-sextortion-ai-manipulated-obscene-video-man-pays-1-85-lakh}
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