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Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh: police arrest four people accused of recording a Canada-based NRI on a video call from a fake Facebook profile, making AI obscene videos and demanding $50,000 under threat of circulating them

Ghaziabad crime branch police announced on 2 October 2026 that they had arrested four members of a sextortion and cyber-fraud gang. According to the police account relayed by the Times of India, Aaj Tak, Navbharat Times and ETV Bharat, the gang contacted a non-resident Indian living in Brampton, Canada, through Facebook Messenger from a fake profile in a woman's name, recorded the person on a video call on 10 September 2026, then demanded $50,000 and threatened to upload the footage and AI-made obscene videos if the money was not paid. The victim was given a bank account in Ghaziabad and reported the extortion to the city's cybercrime team on 17 September. Police registered an FIR under the BNS and the IT Act, said the phone number was linked to 40 cyber-fraud complaints on the national portal and said AI sextortion videos were found on the accused's phones. Police said the gang had operated since 2023; other members were absconding. The account is the police's; the videos were not inspected, and the reports disagree on the victim's gender.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
10 Sept 2026
Reported
2 October 2026
Event location
India, Canada
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or Abuse
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Privacy · Finance · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 1 underlying account
4 claims: 4 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: AI used to make obscene videos of the victim from video-call footage, according to Ghaziabad police as reported (tool not identified)

What Happened

The extortion. The Times of India reported on 3 October 2026 that, according to Ghaziabad police, the gang created a fake Facebook profile in a woman's name and contacted a Canada-based NRI on Messenger. They allegedly made a video call on 10 September 2026 and recorded the victim, then contacted the victim again a few days later, demanded $50,000 and threatened to upload the footage and AI-made obscene videos if the money was not paid. Aaj Tak and Navbharat Times, relaying the same police account in Hindi, say the victim lives in Brampton and that an objectionable AI video was prepared from the call recording.

The complaint. The victim was given an account number at a bank branch in Ghaziabad's Raj Nagar District Centre and contacted the cybercrime team on 17 September; Aaj Tak says the call came to the police CUG number at about 2:30 at night. Police said the phone number was linked to 40 cyber-fraud complaints on the national NCRB portal and registered an FIR under the BNS and the IT Act.

Arrests. The crime branch arrested four people; the ACP (crime) said other gang members were absconding and that AI sextortion videos had been found on the accused's phones. Police said the gang had been active since 2023, bought bank accounts from other people for about Rs 15,000 each and also ran a share-market investment fraud through a mobile app. Police put the cyber fraud traced to the gang so far at about Rs 6.58 crore; the reports do not say how much of it came from extortion with AI-made videos.

Limits. All four reports relay one police account; no victim statement or court record was read and the videos were not inspected. The Times of India uses male pronouns for the victim and ETV Bharat calls the victim a woman; the public record does not state a gender. Whether the victim paid anything is not reported.

Reported harm

A Canada-based NRI was recorded on a video call by a gang using a fake profile and threatened with the circulation of AI-made obscene videos unless $50,000 was paid, according to Ghaziabad police as reported by four outlets.

Outcome

Ongoing

Ghaziabad police registered an FIR under the BNS and the IT Act and announced on 2 October 2026 the arrest of four gang members; police said other members were absconding and that the investigation of the network and its bank accounts continued. No charge sheet or court proceeding is reported in the sources read.

What remains unknown

  • Whether the victim paid any money.
  • The victim's gender: the Times of India and ETV Bharat disagree.
  • Which AI tool was used and whether the obscene videos were sent to anyone.
  • How many of the gang's other victims were threatened with AI-made videos.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Ghaziabad police, as relayed by the Times of India, Aaj Tak, Navbharat Times and ETV Bharat, say the gang made obscene videos of the victim with AI from the video-call recording, and the ACP (crime) is quoted saying AI sextortion videos were found on the accused's phones. No forensic report or tool name is reported and the videos were not inspected.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to Ghaziabad police, the gang contacted a non-resident Indian living in Brampton, Canada, from a fake Facebook profile in a woman's name, recorded the person on a video call on 10 September 2026, made obscene videos with AI from the recording, demanded $50,000 and threatened to upload the footage and the AI-made videos if the money was not paid.

Causal attribution. The police account as relayed by four outlets from one chain; the AI element is a police statement and the videos were not inspected.

  • timesofindia.indiatimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'extorting money from a Canada-based NRI by threatening to circulate AI-generated sexually explicit videos'; 'They allegedly made a video call on Sept 10 and recorded the victim in a compromising position'; 'threatened to upload the footage and AI-made obscene videos'; 'contacted a Canada-based NRI on Messenger'
  • aajtak.in(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'कनाडा के ब्रैम्पटन निवासी एक NRI ने गाजियाबाद पुलिस के CUG नंबर पर रात करीब ढाई बजे फोन किया'; 'आरोपी उससे करीब 50 हजार अमेरिकी डॉलर की मांग कर रहे थे'; 'पुलिस का कहना है कि उपलब्ध तस्वीरों और वीडियो का इस्तेमाल कर AI तकनीक से फर्जी आपत्तिजनक वीडियो तैयार किया गया'
  • navbharattimes.indiatimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'महिला के नाम से बनाई गई फर्जी आईडी से उसे वीडियो कॉल की गई थी'; 'इसके बाद उसकी रिकॉर्डिंग से अश्लील एआई वीडियो तैयार कर 50 हजार डॉलर मांगे गए'; 'कनाडा निवासी एनआरआई ने गाजियाबाद पुलिस को की गई शिकायत में कहा कि फेसबुक मैसेंजर के जरिए उससे संपर्क किया गया'
Reported The victim reported the extortion to the Ghaziabad cybercrime team on 17 September 2026, and police registered an FIR under the BNS and the IT Act after linking the phone number to 40 cyber-fraud complaints on the NCRB portal.

Causal attribution. Police account as reported.

  • timesofindia.indiatimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'contacted the cybercrime team on Sept 17'; 'preliminary inquiries linked it to 40 cyber fraud complaints on the NCRB portal'; 'police registered an FIR under relevant sections of the BNS and the IT Act'
Reported Ghaziabad crime branch arrested four gang members, said others were absconding and said AI sextortion videos were found on the accused's phones.

Causal attribution. Police statement as reported; no charge sheet or court record read.

  • timesofindia.indiatimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'on Friday we arrested four members of the gang while some of the gang members are absconding'; 'We have found AI sextortion videos in their mobile phones'
  • etvbharat.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'क्राइम ब्रांच गाजियाबाद में साइबर फ्रॉड और इंटरनेशनल सेक्सटॉर्शन से जुड़े एक गिरोह का पर्दाफाश करते हुए चार आरोपियों को गिरफ्तार किया है'
Reported Police said the gang had been active since 2023 and had cheated people in several states and abroad, that it also cheated people in the name of share-market investment and trading, and that cyber fraud of about Rs 6.58 crore had come to light so far.

Causal attribution. Police figures for the gang's whole activity; the reports do not say how much of it involved AI-made videos.

  • timesofindia.indiatimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'the gang had been active since 2023 and had cheated hundreds of people across several states and abroad'
  • etvbharat.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'शेयर मार्केट में निवेश और ट्रेडिंग के नाम पर भी ठगी करते थे'; 'कुल 6 करोड़ 58 लख रुपए की साइबर ठगी की जाने की जानकारी सामने आई है'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-03 (HTTP 200); no translation. Quotes the ACP (crime). Applies to s1.

Read in Hindi on 2026-10-03 (HTTP 200). Researcher translation. Relays the crime branch account with added detail (Brampton residence, 2:30 am call to the police CUG number). Applies to s2.

Read in Hindi on 2026-10-03 (HTTP 200). Researcher translation. Quotes the ACP (crime). Applies to s3.

Read in Hindi on 2026-10-03 (HTTP 200). Researcher translation. Calls the victim an NRI woman, unlike the Times of India, which uses male pronouns. Applies to s4.

Event countries: India, Canada. Affected-person countries: Canada. Court countries: Unknown.

The victim lives in Brampton, Canada (Aaj Tak, Navbharat Times); the reports do not say where the victim was during the call, and Canada is listed as an event country from that residence; the accused were arrested by Ghaziabad police in Uttar Pradesh, India, and the demanded payment account was at a Ghaziabad bank branch (Times of India). The victim is described as an NRI; the public record lists only the reported country of residence. No court proceeding is reported.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-03: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case: police say AI-made obscene videos depicting a real person were used to extort that person. The account is the Ghaziabad police's as relayed by four outlets in one chain. The victim, the accused and the fake profile's name are not named and no video content is described.

People described

A non-resident Indian living in Brampton, Canada (not named; reports disagree on gender)

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person, the Canada-based NRI who was recorded and threatened (police account). The 40 portal complaints and the 'hundreds of people' police say the gang cheated since 2023 are not counted: the reports do not say how many involved AI videos. Exact 1.

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). Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh: police arrest four people accused of recording a Canada-based NRI on a video call from a fake Facebook profile, making AI obscene videos and demanding $50,000 under threat of circulating them. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-ghaziabad-ai-obscene-video-sextortion-canada-nri-gang-arrests

BibTeX

@misc{2026_ghaziabad_ai_obscene_video_sextortion_canada_nri_gang_arrests,
  title = {Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh: police arrest four people accused of recording a Canada-based NRI on a video call from a fake Facebook profile, making AI obscene videos and demanding \$50,000 under threat of circulating them},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-ghaziabad-ai-obscene-video-sextortion-canada-nri-gang-arrests}
}

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