The Nagaland Police has cautioned the public against various cyber frauds and crimes with the following modus operandi prevalent in the state:
Cases of theft of identity and photos of the victims, often of well-known persons, which is openly available on the internet and social media, ie., Facebook. WhatsApp and Instagram, etc., by fraudsters and accessing the contacts and mobile numbers of friends, colleagues, etc., from the official websites/contact list have become rampant, according to police. The fraudsters then send messages through WhatsApp, and Facebook. Instagram, etc., asking the victim's friends and colleagues for help in the form of money transfers, common merchant card purchases, e-wallet transfers, etc., the police also said. They may also solicit and recommend some fraudulent apps requiring the transfer and deposit of money, the police added.
Extortion or black mailing of victims by contact/communication through the Facebook chat, WhatsApp. etc. can happen. "Generally, the victim is convinced or persuaded to chat, video chat, or exchange photos through social media. The conversation or video may or may not be of sexual or of compromising nature but the scamsters resort to morphing their pictures and superimposing compromising pictures to harass and threaten the victims with dire consequences," the police also said. The fraudsters are professionals and try to overwhelm the victims through various aggressive tactics and language. Some victims, out of alarm, make payments through various online payment apps, UPIs, etc., the police added.
The police also cautioned that fake online shopping Apps and shopping pages/accounts are created in popular social media platforms. The fraudsters lure the victims by offering attractive offers/discounts through their pages. After the victims make the payment, the delivery is not made, the police also informed.
The police then advised the public to remain vigilant and not be duped by such scams. The fraudsters are professionals and take extra effort to appear genuine. They operate through multiple identities, accounts, phone numbers, etc., the police also said.
As reiterated earlier, Nagaland Police appealed to the general public not to transfer money without completely verifying the authenticity of the account, be it through bank transfer, easy money transfer Apps, UPIs, e-Wallets, etc., and not to accept requests from strangers without verification, no matter how genuine and attractive they may appear.
