HYDERABAD: The Coronavirus pandemic has unleashed a new wave of cyber crime. Criminals have come up with a new modus operandi under the nomenclature of ‘Charity for Corona’ to loot people who are already distressed by the lockdown.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has warned states against cyber fraudsters circulating a malware link about a so-called Coronavirus app like Spymax, Coronalive 1.1, which when opened may loot data from your devices.
Further, cyber criminals are taking advantage of the situation under the guise of charity. Though no case has been reported in this regard in Telangana, police have asked people to stay alert.
Sources from the Ministry of Home Affairs told Express that there have been inputs on such attacks and people losing money from their accounts and e-wallets as well to fake Corona charity groups. “The information is regularly shared with the States. They are asked to create awareness among people and take precautions.
"Further, people can also report such incidents to the local police or raise complaints at the Home Ministry’s dedicated portal for cyber crime which is www.cybercrime.gov.in,” they said.
According to officials, if anyone clicks on such phishing links, it will infect the user’s device. Further, Vishing is the voice version of phishing.
V stands for voice and is a social engineering scam. The hacker may use the phone to trick a victim with reference to Covid-19 to obtain sensitive personal information.
ACP Cyber Crimes, Hyderabad, KVM Prasad said that so far no complaints have been reported in this regard.
“We are also keeping a track on such activities and if found, suo-moto action will be initiated against persons involved,” he said.