KOCHI: The Kochi City police have launched a probe into the activities of a racket that has been sending text messages on mobile phones asking recipients to dial the number of a woman mentioned in the message for dating, friendship and chatting. The police have warned people against responding to such messages. It could be a trap laid by the racket to record caller details and use the same to blackmail and extort money, the police said.
“This has become so rampant that almost everyone is receiving such text messages. It’s an attempt by rackets to lure prospective customers and trap them. We are looking into this. People should not respond to such messages,” said S Vijayashankar, Inspector, Central police station.
One such text message read: “Dear sir, Are u feeling alone. Need friends in your location? For dating, chatting, friendship. Pls call Meena: < < < (100 % privacy maintained).” Indian Criminology and Forensic Science Association president and criminologist Febin Baby said there has been a spike in such text messages during the Covid pandemic period.
“It’s a bait. Once you call the number and have a conversation, you are trapped. They record the conversation and upload it on social media displaying the number of the caller along with the recorded conversation,” he said.
Febin pointed out that the racket sends these SMS texts to thousands of people daily. “Their target is to get at least a couple of calls. They are trying to exploit people who are lonely and sexually frustrated. These rackets know very well that those who make a call will not reveal it in public,” he said. The rackets are using different modes to reach out to prospective customers. “Though there are app-based dating platforms, not many are confident enough to install such an app on their mobile phones fearing data leak. So rackets now use the conventional phone call mode to connect to clients,” Febin added.
Manu Zacharia, a cyber-security expert and a member of the Data Security Council of India, said these rackets mainly use the number of the caller to search for the social media accounts linked to it.
“They do a thorough research on the caller’s family members and financial background. They lay a trap by making a video WhatsApp call with a woman at the other end and record the same,” he added.