The phones and laptops of a 44-year-old man’s family in Kamothe were hacked into following which his acquaintances started receiving threatening messages. In a few instances, his teenage daughter’s teachers have also received demands for money from the hacked account. The Kamothe police are now investigating the case.
According to Kamothe police, the complainant, Kishore Mahale, works at a private company. Mahale’s daughters, aged 16 and nine, have been using the devices for their online classes during the lockdown. Police suspect the accounts were hacked during the usage.
Mahale noticed that two phones belonging to his wife and daughter, along with two laptops, were completely hacked since August 21. Since then, Mahale’s contacts have been receiving abusive messages. The abusive messages, at various instances, were also being sent from one hacked phone to the other as well in their house, said police.
To prevent further harassment and difficulty in online classes for his daughters, Mahale reset the phone and laptop and even got the internet service provider to reset the WiFi router, officials said.
However, that still did not help. Eventually, the family realised that the elder daughter’s teachers were also getting demands of money along with other threats and abuses from the daughter’s account. Mahale, then, approached the police on Friday and lodged a complaint.
{{/usCountry}}However, that still did not help. Eventually, the family realised that the elder daughter’s teachers were also getting demands of money along with other threats and abuses from the daughter’s account. Mahale, then, approached the police on Friday and lodged a complaint.
{{/usCountry}}“We have registered a case based on the complainant’s statement. It appears to be a targeted hacking and we are investigating if someone known to the family is behind the mischief,” said Sanjay Patil, senior inspector at Kamothe police station.
The Kamothe police have registered a case against an unknown person under Indian Penal Code and Information and Technology Act for Criminal Intimidation and Defamation.