BENGALURU: A new cyber crime has caught citizens off guard and has left experts and officials perplexed. It’s the wedding invite scam. Cases related to this crime are on the rise. It is not limited to wedding invitations alone. Invitations to other events, functions and charity shows are also sent.
Once the links or invites are opened, the malware affects the device, after which it is remote accessed. People then start complaining of devices slowing down, being affected by viruses or even complaining of deletion of data. Cyber crime officials have cautioned people against the new scam. The officials have asked the affected people to report to them before approaching repair centres.
“The malware starts to steal information after getting access to the apps,” Chetan Anand, national cyber security scholar and cybercrime intervention officer, said.
IAS officer opens invite link, gets honey-trapped
“The inbuilt antivirus on mobile phones can’t handle this threat,” Anand said. He said invitations are sent in the form of APK files. Once they are opened, the system gets affected. People should register their complaints with the authorities concerned.
The experts pointed out that government officials, white-collar professionals and people in the communication field are vulnerable to such attacks. This is because of the increased use of electronic devices to access information.
Recently, a senior IAS officer opened an invite link without realising it was malware. His phone was compromised. Later, the official was honey trapped, said a senior cyber crime official. The official said NCRB now reports such cases under the malware category.
Major Vineet Kumar, founder and global president of CyberPeace, said invitations are so catchy that people are unable to resist them. They are not just coming from unknown numbers, but even from known ones. Investigations revealed that even the sender’s phone has also been compromised.
“This form of crime is more dangerous as the phone or device is opened up. Many startups are now working on innovative solutions to tackle this problem. In many countries, Domain Name System (DNS) security projects have been implemented, but in India, pilot studies are on,” he said.