As cyber fraudsters are coming up with novel ways of cheating people, the Maharashtra Cyber Department on Tuesday issued advisories, alerting citizens about emerging cyber crimes such as hacking of Instagram accounts, suspicious WhatsApp calls from international numbers offering jobs and online tasks fraud.
Instagram account hacking fraud
Warning citizens about the Instagram account hacking fraud, the advisory stated, “The hacker will text you in the mail inbox regarding their participation in some 'ambassador contest'. They will ask you to vote for them by sending you an email ID. Then the hacker will ask you to copy paste that ID in your personal information settings.”
Don't put another email ID in your profile setting
Informing how the citizens can safeguard themselves from such fraud, the advisory read, “Don't believe in these types of messages, don't put another email ID in your profile setting and don't share your personal information to unknown persons as they can take full access to your account.”
Block or avoid WhatsApp calls
The advisory related to suspicious WhatsApp calls states, “Citizens may receive a WhatsApp call either in audio or video form from an international number. The calls are made from international calling codes like those of Morocco, Malaysia and Indonesia. Scammers offer jobs like working from home and earning money. They would ask the target to watch YouTube videos and get paid. Citizens are requested to avoid such calls and block them.”
Beware if you get paid for easy tasks followed by offer of crypto investment
The police also issued an advisory on online task or click link fraud, stating, “If someone is giving you money in return for easy tasks and then asks you to invest in crypto then just quit the task, it's a scam for sure.” Everyone wants easy money and that's what fraudsters are exploiting. Research the little details of professionals like interviews, documents, etc. Don't blindly trust the members of the social media group (in case you have been recently made a participant of a new group) as they, too, are part of the con team, who try to convince you to invest. Always confirm the authenticity of the resource from where they have got your number and if the person contacting you is real or not, the advisory underlined.
