Here's how one woman refused to be intimidated by her cyber blackmailer

Immediately after reading the email, Taruna contacted the Police, the Cyber Crime Department and the FBI, asking them to probe the case. Soon enough, she received a second threat, via email - from a person who claimed to have hacked into her Google cloud backup.

"I knew I had to take a stronger action," Taruna told Catch.

She decided to take her case to her social media networks, hoping to spread the news so as to help nab the perpetrator.

"As embarrassing as the videos may be ( they were sent to my boyfriend at the time ) I choose to stand up to this man. Instead of cowering down to his requests. I do this so that other women may take a lesson to stand up to bullies and low life's like this and may get the confidence to stand up as well in case he is known to us and is targeting all of us, but we're either too scared, ashamed or clueless in how to manage or handle such situations... Perhaps someone may be able to locate this person through his digital footprint," she said in a Facebook post.

Taruna's public post went viral, garnering over 1000 shares in under 24 hours after being posted.

"I was hesitant to share the emails due to their content, but I had a lot of support from my boyfriend, friends and family which gave me the courage to go public with it and social media is the best platform. I have no words to express my gratitude to everybody who has shown support!" she told Catch.

"I haven't received any email from this guy since! Plus the support I've been getting has made me even stronger," she said.

When asked if she had lodged a complaint with Google and (or) MSN (the sender's email server), she said: "I called the Google helpline and the response was so disappointing. They straight away said they can't help. I haven't mailed them yet though. I haven't contacted MSN yet".

On her Facebook post, Taruna has also shared the contact details of the detective that has been assigned the case.

When asked about how we can stay better online, she said:

"I think everyone should have the right to privacy and the freedom to keep any pictures and videos they want. We shouldn't have to live in the fear of having our information leaked and misused by someone. Do take the precautions : know your phone better, educate yourself, make the necessary security settings. But despite all that, you may be the victim to Cyber crime. And if you are, I urge you to speak up. I've heard of so many women being the victims to Cyber Crime and some can't handle the humiliation and end their lives. By sharing my story, I wish to share my strength, encourage women to speak up in such situations and don't let disgraceful sick men like this scare you or humiliate you. Don't be victims and suffer alone. Just ask for help, there are thousands of people out there to help you! There's all the support you need!"

Cyber crime in India

When asked if things would be different were she forced to seek intervention of the Indian cyber crime cell, Taruna said:

"I think I would have dealt with it the same way even in India... I filed a complaint here and they were very professional about it. I've only emailed the Cyber Crime branch of Mumbai and haven't received a reply yet".

"I wish the Cyber Crime branch was more swift with their response and action. I've emailed Cyber Crime branches in Mumbai and US and haven't got any response yet!" said Taruna, who moved to the US a few months ago.

She also said that a few of her friends planned to approach the Mumbai cyber crime branch to follow up on the case.

What to do if you are a victim of cyber harassment in India

Under India's Information Technology Act, a cyber crime can be filed at any cyber cell.

Here are a few steps you can take to counter cyber crime in India. If you fall prey to an instance of cyber crime/cyber blackmailing:

• Register an FIR at your nearest police station. Your complaint will be forwarded to the cyber crime department.
• Carry a copy of the offending email with you.
• Extract the extended headers of offending e-mail (If you do not know how to extract header please refer to section 1 of this FAQ).
• Bring soft copy as well hard copy of offending e-mail.
• Please do not delete the offending e-mail from your e-mail box.
• Please save the copy of offending e-mail on your computers hard drive. (Information from Cyber Crime Investigation Cell, Mumbai website)

Register your complaint online at the Cyber Crime Center website

You may also want to file a complaint with the National Commission for Women, on their website.

Here's a handy list of the cyber crime branches in India and their contact details:

1) Bangalore

Cyber Crime Police Station,

CID Annexe Building, Carlton House,

# 1, Palace Road,

Bangalore - 560001.

Telephone: +91- 080- 22942475, +91- 080- 22943050

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.cyberpolicebangalore.nic.in

2) Chennai

SIDCO Electronics Complex,

Block No. 3, First Floor,

Guindy Industrial Estate,

Chennai -32

Telephone: 044 22502526

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://chennaicyberforce.com/contact-cyber-cell/

3) Delhi

Central Bureau of Investigation,

Plot No. 5-B, 6th Floor, CGO Complex,

Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003

Telephone: +91-11-4362203, +91-11-4392424

Website: http://cbi.nic.in/

E-Mail: [email protected]

4) Hyderabad

In Charge Cyber Crime Police Station,

Hyderabad City.

Telephone: 04027852040

Website:http://www.hyderabadpolice.gov.in

Email : [email protected]

5) Cyberabad

ACP Inspector Cyber Crimes

Sub-Inspector Cyber Crimes

IT Cell Special Branch

Telephone: 9491 039 167, 9491 039 172, 9491 039 088, 040-2785 3413

Website: http://cyberabadpolice.gov.in/cybercellwebsite

6) Nagpur

Cyber Crime Investigation Cell,

Crime Branch, 4th Floor,

Administrative Building No. 1,

Near Udyog Bhavan,

Civil Lines, Nagpur-01

Telephone: +91 - 712 - 2566766

Email:[email protected]

Website: http://www.nagpurpolice.info/manage_pages?id=29

Office of Commissioner of Police

2, Sadhu Vaswani Road,

Camp, Pune - 411001

Telephone: +91-20-020-26126296, 26122880, 26208250

Fax: 020 26128105

Website: www.punepolice.gov.in

E-Mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

8) Mumbai

Cyber Crime Investigation cell,

Annex III, 1st floor, Office of the Commissioner of Police,

D.N.Road, Mumbai - 400001

Telephone: +91-22- 24691233

Website: http://www.cybercellmumbai.gov.in

E-mail id: [email protected]

9) Haryana

Cyber Crime and Technical Investigation Cell,

Old SP Office complex,Civil Lines

Gurgaon

E-mail: [email protected]

Website : http://gurgaon.haryanapolice.gov.in

10) Rajasthan

Telephone: +91-9672700012

Website: http://www.cybercellindia.com/

e-mail: [email protected]

11) Madhya Pradesh

Inspector General of Police

State CYBER POLICE,

Bhopal (M.P.)

Telephone: 0755-2770248

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.mpcyberpolice.nic.in

12) Kerala

Website: http://www.keralapolice.org/newsite/ccps.html

Helpline Numbers: 0471-3243000, 0471-3244000, 0471-3245000,

13) Meghalaya

Website: http://www.meghpol.nic.in

14) Thane

3rd Floor, Office of Commissioner of Police,

Khalkar Lane, Court Naka, Thane (W)

Telephone: 022-25410986

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://thanepolice.org/cybercell.php

15) Uttar Pradesh

Cyber Complaints Redressal Cell,

Nodal Officer Cyber Crime Unit Agra,

Agra Range 7,Kutchery Road,

Baluganj,Agra-232001

Telephone: 0562-2463343, Fax: 0562-2261000

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Website: http://www.cybercellagra.com

16) West Bengal

DIG CID

IIIrd Floor, Bhawani Bhawan

Alipore, Kolkata - 700 0027

Telephone: 033 2450 6100

Fax Number - 033 2450 6174

Email :[email protected]

Website: http://cidwestbengal.gov.in

17) Gujarat

DIG, CID, Crime and Railways

Fifth Floor

Police Bhavan

Sector 18, Gandhinagar 382 018

Telephone: +91-79-2325 4384, +91-79-2325 0798, +91-79-2325 3917 (Fax)

18) Jharkhand

IG-CID,Organized Crime

Rajarani Building,Doranda Ranchi, 834002

Telephone: +91-651-2400 737/ 738

E-mail: [email protected]

(Sourced from Cybercrimehelpline.com)

Click here for a full list of cyber cells in India.