Prayagraj cops warn youths against cybercrime, social media offenders

Additional DCP Crime Satish Chandra said people should be cautious while using social media platforms

Cyber cops are not only raising awareness about cyber conmen but are also urging young people to be cautious when interacting with others on social media platforms. They are also making the youngsters aware not to be friends with the unknown or share any personal details with them, during recently conducted cybercrime workshops at different schools and colleges of the district.

Personal details like the date of travelling, and routine timings like school, college, coaching or office timings should not be shared on social media, informed cops. (FOR REPRESENTATION)

They informed the students that there have been some recent incidents in which friendships through social media have turned dangerous. Moreover, there have been incidents of cyberbullying in which social media users are subjected to harassment.

A Jhunsi resident, a minor girl came in contact with another minor youth through a social media platform. The youth and his friend called the girl on the pretext of partying and gangraped her after forcing her to consume alcohol.

In another incident, a Khuldabad woman posted some of her photographs on a social media platform. One of her relatives copied the photographs, tampered and turned them into obscene before sharing them on social media platforms.

Cyber cell officials said social media platforms are now being excessively used by cyber conmen, stalkers, criminals and jilted lovers. The fraudsters are cloning the social media accounts of people especially reputed persons to dupe their relatives and friends of cash.

In one such case, a government official’s Facebook account was cloned by fraudsters. The conmen sent messages to his relatives, friends and colleagues requesting them to send money for an emergency. The official approached the police after he came to know about the fraud. Additional DCP Crime Satish Chandra said people should be cautious while using social media platforms. The accounts should be protected with two-factor authentication and never accept friend requests from unknown people.

Personal details like the date of travelling, and routine timings like school, college, coaching or office timings should not be shared on social media. Video calls made from unknown mobile numbers should not be received. Any such unknown number should be blocked immediately.