BHUBANESWAR: Blue Whale Challenge, Momo Challenge and now Olivia Hoax, the cyber game space has been throwing more and more challenges for Odisha Police, who are on their toes to keep these life-threatening games at bay from the vulnerable minds.
Barely days after issuing an advisory on ‘Momo Challenge’, Odisha Crime Branch issued another advisory on ‘Olivia Hoax’, a spam message which is being circulated on WhatsApp. On its official Twitter handle, the Crime Branch informed that new WhatsApp spam, ‘Olivia Hoax’ was targeting young children by befriending them.
The advisory has instructed parents to closely monitor the online activities of their children. Police also urged WhatsApp users not to reply to the messages sent by unknown or suspicious numbers on WhatsApp. They have also shared screenshots of sample conversations with ‘Olivia’ on the Twitter handle. The Crime Branch has publicised the advisory with the hash tag #SayNotoCyberStrangers on its Twitter handle to warn the citizens for not responding to unknown numbers on WhatsApp.
The sender pretends to be a friend of a friend or an existing friend with a new number. If the WhatsApp user engages with the unknown sender, they are sent a link which opens to porn websites. The unknown sender lures youngsters into visiting porn pages on the pretext of showing them the picture of Olivia.
The citizens have been advised not to click on a link that an unknown person sends them on WhatsApp.
The spam has started to be known as ‘Olivia Hoax’ as that is the name the sender tends to operate under.
On September 1, Crime Branch had issued an advisory on Momo Challenge and pointed out that the deadly game was being circulated through unknown WhatsApp numbers. The advisory said Momo Challenge was being circulated by some unidentified miscreants and the game was provoking the participants, especially teenagers to end their lives as part of its final task. The police stated in the advisory that several people have already fallen prey to the deadly game across the globe, and they cautioned the parents along with the teachers for remaining alert to ward off any untoward incident.