The cybercrime cell of the Federal Investigation Agency has received over 200 complaints of people’s WhatsApp accounts being hacked in the last one year.
The complainants usually receive a message from an unknown number followed by a call where the person claims that some money was transferred in your account mistakenly and asks you to send a one time password [OTP].
“Once you give the OTP, your account can be hacked within minutes and the hackers will have access to all your personal information and messages,” cyber law expert Zain Qureshi revealed.
In an interview on SAMAA TV’s programme Naya Din, he said that the key to preventing any financial fraud is to refrain from giving your account or any other personal details to people without verification.
Qureshi highlighted the following information that should not be revealed at any cost:
- CNIC number
- Mother’s name and details of other family members
- Bank account number
Another way the public can secure their social media accounts is by enabling the two-step verification, the expert said.
Qureshi pointed out that there are some loopholes in the cybercrime laws that help hackers escape. “According to the law, hackers will only be subject to two years in prison and get easily get out on bail.”
The suspects usually don’t get arrested also because they use unauthorised SIM cards pretending to be people they are not. This way there’s no way the police can arrest them.
In the year 2020-2021, 1,400 cases of online fraud were registered. Compared to 2019, there has been an 85% increase in financial online crimes.
Qureshi said that the numbers are alarming and it’s important that the public is aware of ways to avoid them.
from SAMAA https://ift.tt/3tp503Y
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