MHA think tank alerts against 'hijack', sextortion, impersonation scams on WhatsApp
New Delhi (PTI): A police think tank that functions under the union home ministry has issued an advisory and alert against a variety of scams that take place on popular social media messaging platform WhatsApp leading to cyber crimes and financial frauds.
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) has identified seven types of such frauds that include tricking through missed calls, video calls, in the name of job offers and investment plans, impersonation, hijacking and screen sharing.
As part of the 'hijacking' scam, the eight-page advisory-cum-alert said, the scammers take unauthorised access to the victim's WhatsApp (WA) account and request money from their contacts.
"Some people also witnessed WhatsApp video calls from unknown numbers. These were basically sextortion-based nude video calls which were then used to threaten the user."
"The hackers blackmail the user and ask for money in return," the BPRD said in the communication accessed by PTI.
The BPRD is a think tank on policing subjects under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
WhatsApp, on its part, has launched a number of public message campaigns in the recent past to advertise to the public about the safety features brought in by the platform, owned by technology major Meta.
The BPRD said through missed calls made from numbers starting with country codes mostly belonging to Vietnam, Kenya, Ethiopia and Malaysia, the hackers use 'code scripted bots' to find active users and then target them for various cyber threats.
As part of the impersonation scam, the scammers contact the victim pretending to be the CEO or senior officer of their organisation and target top management executives like CFO (chief financial officer), COO (chief operating officer), CTO (chief technical officer) and high-ranking police and government officers, it said.
The fraudsters get the personal information of the personnel they are pretending to be by surfing their social media handles and creating similar profiles and seeking immediate payments to some links citing their occupancy at some important meeting or a problem in their old number in order to convince the victim to transfer the funds, the BPRD said.
It also published, in the alert, pictures of some WA accounts where such attempts were made.
The communication expressed particular concern about a recently released feature of 'screen share' by WhatsApp.
"In the past, numerous frauds were witnessed where scammers get victims' screen access fraudulently to commit illicit activities," the BPRD said.
It added that scammers impersonate as officials from banks, financial institutions, government bodies etc., and once they convince the victim to share their screen, a malicious app or software is installed "surreptitiously" and the victims' sensitive information like bank details, passwords and banking services are compromised.
As part of the do's and don'ts, the communication asked users to activate 'two-factor authentication or 2FA' on their WA account while it suggested not replying and answering suspicious or unknown WA calls and reporting and blocking the numbers that approach the user.
"The officials associated with messaging app WhatsApp have already been informed of this data breaching act. As numerous government bodies and ministry officials are already working on it, official communications are sent to the concerned authorities for the same."
"As a precautionary measure, unknown communications on WhatsApp without verifying their authenticity should be avoided. Still, any appropriate solution to such problems is not yet recognised," it said.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
