Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Ceasefire was announced between India and Pakistan on Saturday evening, but cyber fraudsters are luring people to open files to watch pictures and videos of the war and trying to siphon off data and money of users.
The state police headquarters has issued an advisory, the officials said. Cyber criminals are spreading propaganda material on pretext of specific updates related to news or information, statements related to the conflict or leaked footage, which contain links to malware, spyware or phishing websites.
The PHQ has warned people that fraudsters crafted apk files, .exe files and video files/links are being shared on WhatsApp, E-mail, and other social media platforms in many ways. The embedding phishing links in messages appear to be from trusted sources or groups. Personal data can be stolen through these phishing websites designed to look like legitimate news or government sources.
APK files labelled as App or Tool (e.g., ‘Live war updates App’) are being circulated, through which data can be stolen or ransom can be demanded by locking the device. Apart from this, bank accounts or social media accounts etc can also be hacked through these tools.
It is asked to never open video or image files sent from unknown phone numbers, even if such files are forwarded by someone you trust. Never forward such message files to anyone or any group yourself. Install any app only from Google Play Store or authorised app store. Do not try to click and open forwarded links claiming to show controversial updates or sensitive footage.
