Indian-Origin Man Sentenced for Phishing Women’s Social Media for Intimate Images
K Eshwaran, an Indian-origin man employed with the Singapore Air Force, was sentenced to 11 months in jail for allegedly phishing women’s social media login details to get their intimate images. The prosecution sought 11 to 16 months of jail time for Eshwaran, arguing that his offences were premeditated and sophisticated.
According to news agency PTI, defence lawyer Mervyn Tan told the court that Eshwaran was serving as an engineer in the Republic of Singapore Air Force. Eshwaran will start serving his sentence on June 19 after the judge granted his request for a deferral.
Charges Against the Indian-Origin Man
Eshwaran sent phishing links to 22 victims from 2019 to 2023 to get login credentials for their social media, cloud server and email accounts. The prosecutors said that Eshwaran targeted victims whom he knew in real life or victims whose intimate images had been posted to an adult forum. He posed as a “helpful netizen” and would send phishing links to victims with a message saying that their intimate images had been posted online. In some cases, he used a website to generate possible login credentials based on a victim’s social media details that he had and then used trial and error to access their accounts.
Once inside the accounts, he would trawl through them to see if the victims had stored any intimate images of themselves. In the case of one victim, Eshwaran knew she had done modelling shoots where she was partially dressed or in lingerie, and wanted access to those photos, PTI reported. It was alleged that Eshwaran had also gained unauthorised access to men’s social media accounts. He would then impersonate the account holder and contact women whom he thought had an intimate relationship with the man to ask for intimate photos.
Eshwaran continued to re-offend in 2023, even when he was out on bail and already under investigation for his earlier phishing attacks. The identities of all his victims were protected by a court order, which the prosecution requested given the sexual element of his offences.
