KOCHI: A short film scripted and directed by officers with the Ernakulam Rural police has gone viral on the social media. The short film created by the state police aims at raising awareness on ‘honeytraps’ on social media that target gullible internet users.
The story is being told in a format in which a police officer describes the plight of a retired colonel who shot himself in his police station limits following repeated blackmailing by such scamsters. Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran has given voice to the narration. The film shows how the victim gets trapped by online scammers posing as women on the social media to lure him into a ‘honey trap’.
It depicts how easily anyone can fall for such scams if they are not careful on the social media. The movie encourages the public to approach the police and not to entertain the demands of scamsters. The video shared through the official Facebook page of Kerala Police has garnered over 2.9 lakh views. The video has been widely shared on other social media platforms as well.
The creative head of the film project is IG P Vijayan and Ernakulam Rural SP K Karthick is the project consultant. The script for the film was done by Prasad Parappuram, an official with the Ernakulam Rural police along with Sarath Kovilakam, who is attached with the Kozhikode police. The film is directed by Arun Viswam, another officer with the rural police.
“Many instances have been reported where people are befriended online by scammers posing as attractive women. The scamsters encourage the victims to flirt and share intimate videos. Later, they compile nudes and sleazy messages into a video and threaten the victim and extort money from them,” said an officer.
He said that many become scared of the matter reaching their family members and friends and end up paying the blackmailer. “Some may even take extreme steps like the protagonist in the film. The police are trying to tell the people to be careful and not to panic even if one falls for such scams. Approach the police as early as possible,” said an officer.
