Visakhapatnam: Notorious Snapchat hacker held for blackmailing woman, leaks personal chats

The Visakhapatnam Cybercrime Police tactically arrested a notorious 27-year-old hacker who breached an unmarried woman’s Snapchat account and leaked her chats and photographs to her contacts. As per the police, the accused blackmailed the victim into sending him bare-bodied images and video-calling him.

This incident came to light when the victim approached the cyber cell and complained about the miscreant’s act. According to the complainant, the hacker sent a link to her on Snapchat from an anonymous account as bait. Upon opening the link, the victim found that her account had been hacked, compromising her privacy. Later, she received blackmail messages from the accused on Telegram, threatening that he would leak her Snapchat chats and images to her contacts if she failed to send him nude photographs and videos.

The victim told the Visakhapatnam Cybercrime Police that the hacker forwarded the chats on her Snapchat account to her friend groups. Upon receiving the complaint, the cybercops initiated a tactical investigation and traced the criminals. The police revealed that the accused, Gowrneni Manoj, is a native of Ibrahimpatnam in the NTR District.

He is a BTech dropout and working at a call centre, stated a press release by the Visakhapatnam Cybercrime Police. Manoj allegedly learnt to hack social media accounts on YouTube and created a Snapchat account with fake details with an agenda to remain anonymous.

The police appealed to the public to avoid suspicious links and unknown persons on social media. To report a cybercrime, call the toll-free number 1930 or contact +91 9490617971.

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