MUMBAI: Maharashtra<\/a> police's cyber cell<\/a> has issued an alert warning citizens against sharing confidential details such as their usernames and passwords of Instagram<\/a> accounts after receiving fradulent copyright infringement SMSes or emails. Fraudsters misuse these details to hijack accounts for blackmail, cyber cell<\/a> police said.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra<\/a> police's cyber cell<\/a> has issued an alert warning citizens against sharing confidential details such as their usernames and passwords of Instagram<\/a> accounts after receiving fradulent copyright infringement SMSes or emails. Fraudsters misuse these details to hijack accounts for blackmail, cyber cell<\/a> police said.
The cyber cell tweeted that digital attackers are targeting Instagram users in a bid to hijack their accounts. \"As soon as your data goes to the scammers, they can take over your Instagram profile and modify the information. They can then demand a ransom to return the hijacked account or start spreading spam and all kinds of malicious content through it.\"
The attack begins with a phishing email or a direct message being distributed as part of this fake campaign that claims the user's account will be suspended within 24 hours for violating Instagram's copyright law. \"It sends the user a copyright notice.
The users who wish to refute the claim can do so by clicking the 'Copyright Objection Form' link or button provided in the email or direct message. The message has several grammatical errors. Clicking on the link redirects the user to a fake Instagram page. The URL of the page doesn't end in '.com' but '.cf'. The page asks the user to share the email ID, date of birth and Instagram password. After obtaining all the private information, the phishing page redirects the user to the official Instagram login page for maintaining the illusion that the copyright objection form was authentic,\" said joint commissioner of police Yashasvi Yadav.
Cyber expert Ritesh Bhatia said this is a case of phishing and warned the hacked contents can be even sold for terrorist activities. \"Hackers are not just gaining access to celebrity accounts but also of any user with a large number of followers. The idea of these hackers is to sell these hacked accounts on the dark web,\" said Bhatia.
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