Mangaluru: Sharp rise in ID fraud on Facebook

HUBBALLI: Miscreants on the prowl on the limitless world of social media are no longer confining themselves to impersonation of celebrities and prominent personalities such as IPS officers. On Facebook, miscreants are creating fake profiles of those who have little or no claim to fame in order to swindle money out of their friends and relatives.
Most Facebook users are unaware of their cyber doppelgängers unless they are informed about them by their friends.Sometimes they learn of the existence of these fake profiles much too late, after many of their friends and relatives have been duped of money procured under false pretences. The modus operandi of these miscreants is fairly simple: They create a fake profile of an existing user. Equipped with details of their friends, they seek monetary help from them, all the while concealed behind the cloak of their projected identity.
Many Facebook users, unaware of the cry for help coming from counterfeit profiles, readily lend money only to realise they have been duped later.
A few days ago, miscreants created a fake profile of a schoolteacher, and sought money from his friends and well-wishers by inventing a crisis. After concerned friends called him to inquire about the problems he was facing, he promptly changed his password, and posted a message on his Facebook wall requesting friends against lending money to those seeking it using his name.
Among the high-profile cases that caught the public attention recently involved police inspector Murugesh Channavar, who enjoys a very large following on Facebook. On realising that there was a fake profile of his on the site, he was quick to intimate his friends and relatives of the ruse. A case was registered with cyberpolice and his fake Facebook profile blocked. Cops are yet to achieve a breakthrough in the case.
Cyberpolice inspector Satish Malgond called on people against transferring money blindly when they were sought out on social media sites. “They should instead call their friends and confirm if they are indeed need financial assistance,” Malgond said.
Sources said that miscreants had created fake profiles of many cops in Hubballi-Dharwad, who had, however, refused to lodge complaints, choosing instead to alert their friends against transferring any money if such a request was made using their Facebook identity.