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Journalism of Courage
India is one of the fastest adopters of technology in the world. Affordable smartphones and data plans have helped millions of users get on board with digital services like UPI, WhatsApp, and more.
Unfortunately, hackers also see this as an opportunity resulting in a surge in cyber crimes over the last few years. Miscreants have been using platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp to steal identities and then use the same to extort money from the victim and their friends and family.
Some criminals take this a step further and force victims to invest in a bonus cryptocurrency, which will then be withdrawn, eliminating the digital trace of the scam.
After several of these cases surfaced, Kolkata Cyber police are now warning users to be vigilant, especially while receiving a message with a link and also suggest users not forward these messages to anyone and report it to WhatsApp.
Always be vigilant, and never click on an external link received on WhatsApp or as an SMS, unless you are sure. If someone from your contact requests for money, make sure that it’s indeed your friend or family member before transferring. The best way to do this is by video or voice calling them.
Never share sensitive information like OTP with someone over a message. Make sure that two-factor authentication is enabled on all social media platforms. Lastly, if you find a message suspicious, report it to WhatsApp or the respective platform moderators.
