From Classifieds to Crime Hubs: How Locanto and Skokka Became Centers for Prostitution and Cyber Fraud

Swift Summary:

• Previously popular platforms like Locanto and Skokka have become hubs for organized prostitution, sextortion, and financial fraud.
• Fraudsters exploit these platforms’ anonymity too lure users into scams or criminal activity.
• In Hyderabad, police arrested nine suspects operating a prostitution ring from a Madhapur luxury hotel in August 2025. Victims included women trafficked from across India (West Bengal, Delhi, haryana, Punjab, Jharkhand) and foreign nationals (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan).
• Similar incidents include raids on brothels run by Ugandan nationals in December 2024 and rescues of 17 foreign women trafficked from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania earlier that year.
• Fraudsters use international servers routed via countries like Cyprus and the UK to anonymize their operations. Local law enforcement faces technological barriers in tracing these criminals.
• Attempts to seek cooperation from Locanto for user details have been largely unproductive due to legal ambiguities regarding non-Indigenous platforms.
• Matrimonial sites and dating apps are also targets for fraud; officials estimate fake profiles constitute around 60% of such platforms.

Indian Opinion Analysis:

The misuse of online classified portals underscores broader systemic challenges related to cybersecurity regulation in India. Platforms operating outside Indian jurisdiction remain key blind spots for law enforcement agencies struggling with limited access to advanced forensic tools. The repeated emergence of trafficking networks highlights gaps between prosecution efforts and mechanisms enabling digital anonymity.

This issue has deep implications not only for victims but also public trust in online services broadly-be it classifieds or matrimonial websites-which risks eroding further without concrete action on safeguards like mandatory verification protocols or platform accountability reforms. Addressing this requires coordination between legislative bodies on cyber laws tailored for transnational digital platforms along with investment into strengthening forensic capabilities at the local level.

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