'Sunno kuch kaam hai...': How a Delhi man blackmailed, extorted women after doctoring their images using AI

A 21-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly blackmailing a college student by using AI technology to generate explicit images of her.

The accused, identified as Nikhil Singh, posed as a female on social media under the profile "P......chaudhary3359" and befriended his targets to manipulate their profile pictures into sexually explicit content. He then demanded money from the victims, threatening to make the images go viral.

The case came to light on January 6 when a female college student reported the harassment at the Cyber Police Station in southwest Delhi.


According to the victim, she had received a follow request on a social media app from the fake profile and engaged in a conversation, thinking it was harmless.

However, the situation took a disturbing turn when the user began sending her AI-generated explicit images, created by manipulating her profile pictures.

The blackmailer then demanded money, threatening to share the fabricated images on social media or send them to the victim’s family. Distressed and worried about the impact on her reputation, the victim confided in her parents, who urged her to approach the police.

Following the victim's complaint, the police registered a case and launched an investigation.

"Through the analysis of chat histories and technical data from a tech firm, we discovered that the accused used an AI-enabled application to alter the victim's photos and make them obscene," said DCP (Southwest) Surendra Choudhary.

"The accused also used the platform’s one-time-view feature to prevent the victim from saving the manipulated images."

The accused sent a QR code for the payment but used a third party to ensure his identity remained concealed. Police traced the payments to a street vendor selling chowmein near the accused's home in Harsh Vihar, northeast Delhi, where Singh had arranged for payments to be collected on his behalf.

After further investigation, police apprehended Singh, who admitted to creating the fake social media profile in 2023 to contact women. He revealed that he had devised the blackmail scheme to extort money to fund his lifestyle. A smartphone used in the crime was recovered from him.

The police have taken Singh into custody, and further investigations are ongoing.

(With inputs from ToI)