Many social media users are landing in hackers’ net in their hurry to get their profiles verified. Users of Instagram, one of the popular social media applications, are reportedly the majority who fall prey to the fraud.
Experts with the Kerala Police Cyberdome say there are even fake websites designed for cheating social media users who are keen to get their profiles verified with the blue badge. As the original verification process is a bit strenuous and done after complying with a lot of parameters, many are running after shortcuts that often land them in virtual traps, they add.
“The usual trickery is to send a link offering quicker verification support at free of cost. Naturally, someone who is in a hurry to get a verified profile without much effort will quickly respond,” says a young cyber security professional who is now supporting the police cyberdome. According to him, the senders of such links can easily hack personal accounts if a person clicks on the link and respond to their message.
A senior police officer attached to the hi-tech cell of the Kerala police says that there are websites and online platforms that offer service to quickly increase the number of followers for social media pages. “Those who cooperate with their virtual commands are sure to lose their personal data in social media accounts besides facing other safety threats,” he adds.
Experts with a prominent cyber security firm say the clone login page that pops up on clicking the link misleads many because of its resemblance to the original one. They point out that the best strategy is to depend only on messages from official accounts or Meta domain and ignore mails or other communications from external sources.
Unhealthy practice
Officers with the Cyber Police Station in the city say the laxity on the part of reporting such incidents to the police has also landed many in crisis. “Instead of taking appropriate legal action to get the original account back, many are simply trying to create a new account. It is not a healthy practice,” says Dinesh Koroth, Inspector, Kozhikode Cyber Police Station. According to him, this could result in the misuse of data collected from the hacked account. Hackers are likely to create multiple fake accounts using the same data or upload it to other sites, he warns.
Considering the increasing number of hacking cases, the police are running an online campaign for public awareness. Many have come up with their own personal experiences and strategies to prevent such incidents while using social media apps. Various tech firms have also come in support of the police to spread awareness using their official websites and social media pages.
