With another lockdown in place, which restricts the movements of non-essential workers and the ongoing season of Indian Premier League (IPL), the Cyber crooks have shifted their focus on infiltrating into your devices through phishing. The Maharashtra Cyber has warned the citizens to be alert against such suspicious links that offer free access to online movies, Over-The-Top (OTT) platform's content, which jeopardizes the user's Information and data.
Amid a surge in cyber frauds in the city, the police have been constantly spreading awareness through various channels to warn citizens of hackers and protect their data. Knowing the tricks, hackers have begun sending messages embedded with links via text or WhatsApp platforms in groups, wherein the fraudsters lure the user on the pretext of offering live streaming of IPL matches in high definition, along with free subscriptions to OTT platforms.
A police officer said that once the user clicks on the embedded link, he is taken to a page, where the user is asked to fill out the details in the name of registration, wherein details like your name, phone number, email address and other privy details are asked. "Moreover, to authenticate the registration, a message is sent on the phone with a One Time Password (OTP), which the user enters. Unknowingly, the user gives the phone and its data's access to the hacker, who could misuse the information for blackmail, sextortion or cyber attack" said the cyber official.
The Maharashtra Cyber has appealed to the citizens to not fall prey to such messages and visit suspicious links and report it immediately to the portal, www.reportphishing.in, which aims to bring all the stakeholder agencies like banks, payment gateways and telecom service providers under one roof and alert them about trends in complaints.
