Mumbai: Cyber crime incidents, during the lockdown, have risen three fold with several new modus operandi being used by fraudsters on various social media platforms. However, hardly a few arrests have been made in such cases, thanks to the apathy of social networking companies, who unintentionally cause a delay and disturb the probe speed and accountability.
It has been largely observed that netizens are cheated off a social media platform and duped to the tune of lakhs of rupees, using various pretexts like helping a friend in need, a marketplace fraud or matrimonial/job fraud by making fake profiles. When the victim immediately approaches the police and lodges a complaint, the case then lies completely in the social media platform's hands, who have to share the fraudster's information for the police's probe.
According to a senior cyber official, delay in response from leading internet and social networking companies has raised serious concern while seeking evidence from them. At a time when the deaths of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput and his former manager Disha Salian has sparked off various rumours and conspiracy theories, such as linking the duo's deaths on social media, it becomes pivotal for any police team to gather evidence from the platform, where the malicious and misleading content has been shared, and delete any fake profiles.
Last month, Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty had received death and rape threats on Instagram by two social media account holders. Police said, soon after Rajput hanged himself to death at his Bandra residence on June 14, social media was rife on blaming Chakraborty for the actor's death. Taking cognisance of the matter, Chakraborty then approached Santacruz Police and lodged a complaint against two Instagram account holders.
A police officer said, despite approaching Instagram to share the accused account holder's information in a bid to identify them, there has been no response from the social networking platform. Almost a month has passed since an FIR was lodged, nor have any arrests been made, neither have the police identified the accused.
"If the social media company responds late, it poses a threat of the post having a greater reach on the internet, thus maligning the image of the victim. When these social media websites are non-cooperative, it largely hinders the investigation," said police. When approached for information, the companies take anywhere between 15 days to two months or more to provide the needed information, the official added.
