Police claimed that the accused duped 10-12 people of Rs 70,000.
A 33-year-old commerce graduate has been arrested for making a fake Instagram profile, duping unsuspecting men and extorting money from them, police said. The accused, Akash Chaudhary (24), ran a meat shop in Gurgaon, and was arrested from there on April 26.
DCP (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said the accused had more than one million Instagram followers and had invited people to post their advertisements via his account. Police claimed that the accused duped 10-12 people of Rs 70,000. Several shoe, sunglasses, watches and cab service companies also paid him money to endorse their brands, police said. They would send him money on his e-wallet, from where Akash would transfer it to his bank account, police said.
Police have charged the accused under sections of the IT Act and IPC at Lajpat Nagar police station. The case had come to light after a woman reported to police that the accused had made an Instagram account using her pictures.
The woman had contacted the accused and requested him to delete the account, but he allegedly threatened to leak her photographs on escort sites, following which she approached police.
During questioning, Akash told police that he created fake profiles to earn money. “He had downloaded over 60 pictures of women,” Biswal said.