A fake letter falsely linked to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) accusing the recipients of heinous crimes that include child pornography and similar serious accusations and asking to respond within 24 hours, is a dangerous step up by the scamsters to broaden their sphere by browbeating innocent people to succumb to tactical blackmail.
A recent report in Times of India on 22 August 2024 informed the readers that Cyber Dost, a Twitter handle of Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) had warned people of a porn letter that is viral on social media and as an email attachment with a request not to respond to this fraudulent letter or email.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently brought out a 44-page e-book that is a collection of awareness tips tweeted by @Cyber Dost to educate internet users to reap the benefits of Digital India safely and securely.
This e-book provides precautions on topics like online transactions, financial, marital, and job frauds, identity theft and cyber impersonation, data breaches, account security, virus, worms, and Trojans, phishing and spamming and software piracy, and partially covers cyberbullying, stalking, grooming, sexting, and ransomware. This is not an exhaustive list but essentially deals with basic minimum precautions to be taken while using digital and social media platforms.
The scamsters are now slowly graduating from trickery to blackmail tactics to loot people using cyberspace. This is a dangerous trend and needs to be challenged upfront. As the race to dupe people heats up with new and innovative methods, there is a need to keep fortifying our systems and increase our awareness of such possibilities so that we are a step ahead of these scamsters in this race. This is easier said than done but we need to make an all-out effort in cooperation with our cyber security authorities. This article is one such attempt to provide a birds-eye-view of the problems and a few suggestions to counter this malice that is affecting our society.
Based on the experience of receiving hundreds of such fraudulent and suspected messages and links, a few of the common characteristics of the techniques adopted by these scamsters and blackmailers are listed so that each one of us is aware of their psyche behind such practices:
i) Blackmailers are ruthless and exploit people without remorse. A common sign of a scam is receiving a blackmail email or a message demanding payment to avoid sharing compromising material; giving in to their demands only encourages them. Just ignore or block them.
ii) Scammers most often use the cover of well-known companies, government institutions, or friends and loved ones to elicit trust. They play with the recipient’s emotions to exploit them.
Always cross-check, iii) Creation of urgency and fear is their trump card to make the victim act hastily. Threatening with legal action and coercion are yet other weapons in their armory against hapless victims. Do not succumb to such pressures and act coolly and wisely or take somebody’s advice before acting
iv) Redirecting blame is another potent weapon that the scammers use to convince a victim that the situation is or her fault so that they will not report it or seek help. Be honest even if a mistake has happened, discuss it with near and dear, and take the help of friends to sort out the situation rather than walking into a blackmailer’s trap. Disclose details to cybercrime authorities.
v) Social engineering is another aspect where scamsters take advantage of sympathy, greed, or curiosity that people may have. They might come up with a beautiful conspiracy, or may even make up fake and sad backgrounds to weaken the target’s guard. Don’t be an emotional fool.
vi) Employing technical jargon or sophisticated legal language is another trick that con artists apply. Seek professional help from appropriate authorities. The list is not complete and I am sure there may be other factors.
Although, the e-book of the MHA has brought out the precautions to avoid online frauds, a few of the most effective ways to detect and prevent such frauds are listed as a ready reckoner. Some of these may be known, but for the sake of completeness are mentioned here:
i) Always verify the source communicating with you as scammers often masquerade as legitimate companies.
Use only official channels such as a hosted company website or customer service for any informational communication.
ii) Look for red flags that include unsolicited requests for personal information, promises of false returns, and grammar errors in emails or messages.
iii) Look for URLs that start with “https://”, and look for the padlock icon on the address bar.
iv) Don’t share personal as well as information about bank accounts and passwords. Legitimate organizations will not search for sensitive information through unsecured platforms.
v) Be suspicious and avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown sources as they may contain malware or lead to phishing sites.
vi) Awareness is the first line of defense so one must get educated about common scams by identifying common fraudulent tactics like phishing emails, advance fee scams, and tech support scams.
vii) Installing and updating antivirus software on devices in use to avoid malicious attacks from fraudulent activity and lastly.
viii) Reporting fraud to the proper authorities, viz., local law enforcement, bank in case of financial fraud, and other online forums where the fraud has occurred.
In the last, a few tips for our Gen-Z active on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram on falling for online romance scams often leading to blackmailing, later. Romance scams happen on dating sites or social media platforms where scammers create fake profiles to form relationships by posting attractive photos and pretending to be charming and rich to gain trust quickly.
The goal is to make someone feel close and dependent emotionally and then ask for money. Since such scams cannot be stopped, at least it can be minimized by following a few tips:
i) Check if the profiles are real by doing a reverse image search on Google; if pictures show up with different names or on multiple profiles, they might be fake.
ii) One should keep his or her information like home address, workplace, or bank information, private.
iii) Allow time for a relationship to develop.
iv) Take a second opinion from family and friends, it helps.
v) Most important is to watch out for money requests especially if it’s sought for emergencies.
vi) Stay on official platforms and keep the conversations on the dating or social media site until you trust the other person or have checked his or her credentials and lastly.
vii) Immediately report if you feel anything weird. This way Gen-Z can avoid falling for romance scams and protect both their hearts and wallets.
Always remember, recovering money from online scams is like trying to squeeze orange juice from a banana, very frustrating and seemingly fruitless, but in some rare cases, possible. So, ending on an utterly optimistic note. Be safe.
–Dr R K Chadha
