KUALA LUMPUR: National
cybersecurity specialist agency CyberSecurity
Malaysia today alerted the public to the dangers of ‘cyber flirts’, saying
it is linked to a rising trend in cyber blackmail scams.
Victims are targeted via social
networking sites such as Facebook, Tagged and online video chat services such
as Skype, with the perpetrators believed to be foreign nationals creating a
scam hub in various locations including Malaysia.
As the victims have thus far been
mainly teenage boys and middle aged men, the culprits are suspected to be
working with female accomplices.
An analysis of the 80 or so reported
incidents thus far revealed the modus operandi of a typical cyber blackmail
scam: The perpetrator would usually create a profile on a social networking
site portraying him or herself as a beautiful Asian woman, where “she” would
befriend and flirt with potential victims, and subsequently invite them to
intimate video chats with her using Skype.
Unbeknownst to the victims however,
“she” would then secretly record the victims during the video chats and
blackmail them into remitting sums of money ranging from RM500 to RM5,000 via
Western Union or a third party bank account. Failure to do so would result in
the video footage being circulated on the Internet.
“Only four incidents of cyber blackmail
scams were reported to our Cyber999 Help Centre in 2012, but by mid-2013 we saw
an upward trend,” said Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab, chief executive officer of
CyberSecurity Malaysia.
He added that by the end of 2013 that
number had increased exponentially to 73 cases, leading CyberSecurity Malaysia to
believe that there could be many more unreported incidents.
“Malaysians are advised to be extra
careful and not to entertain online seductions from women whom they got to know
only in social media, but have never really known in person,” stressed Dr.
Amirudin.
What to do if you are a victim of such a scam:
· Stop communicating with the
perpetrator. Ignore all calls, SMSes or messages from the perpetrator.
· Remove the perpetrator from all your
social media friends or contact lists, or add her to your list of ‘blocked’
contacts.
· Make all your social networking
accounts private so the perpetrator will not be able to reach you or your
friends.
· Keep all relevant data such as chat
logs, screenshots, and e-mail messages as evidence for reporting and
prosecution purposes.
· Never pay the scammers as it may further
propagate the scam.
· Lodge a police report at a nearby
police station together with evidence for further investigations.
· Report the incident(s) to
CyberSecurity Malaysia’s Cyber999 Help Centre for further assistance, either by
sending an e-mail to cyber999@cybersecurity.my or by calling 1-300-88-2999 (monitored during business hours). In case of an
emergency outside regular working hours, send a text message to 019-266 5850.
CyberSecurity also added general words of advice to Internet
users:
· Be aware that anything you do on the
Internet, including video and voice calls, can be recorded and manipulated for
malicious purposes.
· Adhere to best practices, and
religious or social ethics, when on social networking sites and online chat
forums.
· Be very cautious who you befriend,
and do not feel obligated to fulfill all requests from other users while
online.
· Be alert and suspicious of unusual
activities on the Net and immediately report it to relevant authorities.
· As a preventive measure, configure
your Skype account to restrict communications with only your existing contact
list by doing the following: Go to > Tools > Options > Privacy >
Only Allow IMs, Calls etc from People on my Contact List > SAVE.
· Always make sure your software and systems
are up-to-date, and that you are using up-to-date security software.
· Never use your webcam to video call
someone you do not know.
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