There has been a rise in the number of Cyber frauds targeted through fake social media advertisements on various websites and platforms. According to police, the accused upload a series of fake advertisements and per the latest trending product/service, by which the victim would be asked to share his personal and financial details and make payments, only to be defrauded and cheated.
A senior state Cyber official said that there has been a substantial increase in the number of cheating cases registered by the modus operandi of fake social media advertisements.
"Taking cue from the latest product/service launches, the accused penetrate the social media and upload a series of advertisements. These advertisements work on a pure 'click-bait' method, and the best way to stay safe from such cheating frauds is to not click the suspicious ads," the official added.
While the exact figures indicating the extensive abuse of social media ads was not available, the police said there is an almost two fold increase. An officer said that the old fake advertisements are still active when the new ones are uploaded, thus leading to an increase in the number of cheating frauds made using this modus operandi.
Taking to the social media, the Maharashtra Cyber also issued an advisory, explaining the modus operandi and steps to stay safe. Stating the modus operandi, police said that the perpetrators post fake ads on social media platforms, the accused then lure the victim to place order for product or avail the service, thus seeking their personal and banking details.
The Covid-19 pandemic largely resulted in a rise to unemployment, which was picked up by cybercriminals and a sudden spike in fraudulent online employment opportunities via advertisements had surfaced. "The cybercriminals promote advertisements on social media, along with platforms most preferred for job applications and recruitments. The crooks charge ₹2 lakh for creating a fake website, a knock off of the original one, thus cheating aspirants," the cyber official added.
The job opportunities scan has been the most favourite of the cybercriminals, another one is the products advertisements, most preferred, the premium mobile phones soon after its launch in the foreign countries.
PRECAUTIONS--
• Do not click on verified links, popups, messages from untrusted websites.
• Do not share your financial details like OTP, CVV, ATM Pin on unknown payment links.
• Never be excited by low prices.
