A man and his son were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency’s cyber-crime wing in Peshawar on Wednesday night for blackmailing a minor girl living in the United States.
FIA Deputy Director Tahir Khan told newsmen that the accused persons had hacked into the minor girl’s Snapchat account and were sexually extorting her after accessing her private pictures.
He told newsmen that the son had confessed to the crime and his father was later released.
According to details, FIA registered a case when they were contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), informing them of the crime originating from Pakistan.
According to the initial report, the minor female hailed from Virginia and was a victim of ‘sextortion’ by the suspect living in Peshawar’s Hayatabad area.
According to the FIR, 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. This 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 then issued that prompted Facebook to provide information about the Instagram account being used by the suspect to the FBI.
An inquiry was launched by the FIA based on the FBI’s communiqué. The FIA obtained a warrant and the suspect’s home was raided during which the father-son duo was arrested and their mobile phones were seized.
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 suspect admitted to gaining illegal access to the minor girl’s Snapchat account. He said he found nude pictures of her after thoroughly browsing through the social media account.
Some 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 (unauthorized access to information system or data), Section 4 (unauthorized 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.
