This yr, 1 woman targeted on avg daily in cybercrime

Ghaziabad: Between January 1 and July 31 this year, one woman on an average fell victim every day to cybercrime in the city.
According to official data, a total of 219 cases have been reported under the IT Act in 2021 so far, a 13% rise from last year. The figures were 193 and 168 during the same period in 2020 and 2019, respectively. A senior police officer said that cybercrime cases were at their peak during the lockdown in 2020 and most of the cases were filed under objectionable content, morphed photos and hacked social media accounts.
From April to July 2020, more than 150 such cases were lodged, mainly in the city area. During the lockdown period in 2021, 110 cases were lodged under the IT Act and most of the complaints were lodged online. A senior officer said this year, 50 people have been arrested under the IT Act.
On Friday evening, a 19-year-old youth was arrested by Sahibabad police for allegedly blackmailing women after hacking their social media accounts. The accused was identified as Mohammad Shaad, a resident of Bahraich. He was preparing for NEET in Lucknow. Police also found two of his bank accounts in which he had kept Rs 8 lakh taken from the victims.
Talking about the modus operandi, police said the accused used to send a link ‘www.mtqotes.com’ on a victim’s ID. When the victim opened the link, the accused got access to the social media account. The accused would then download photos of the girls and morphed them. He would share the photos with the victims and ask for money. He used to charge anything between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000 to give the victims access to the accounts again and remove ‘obscene’ content from them.
The matter came to light after a 21-year-old girl filed a police complaint. The accused had hacked her Facebook and Instagram accounts and extorted Rs 29,000. He was booked under sections 354 (molestation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) of the IPC and under relevant sections of the IT Act.
On August 1, cyberpolice of Ghaziabad arrested a 22-year-old youth for allegedly harassing a banker in Indirapuram. The man, who used to sell coconut water, had written his contact number on walls across Indirapuram. When he found the woman customer, he started harassing her by sending her ‘obscene videos’ and making video calls. Police found more than 80 contact numbers of women.
Abhay Mishra, circle officer (Indirapuram) and in charge of the cybercell, said awareness about cybercrime is the best way to tackle the menace.
“People shouldn’t click on any link that comes from a stranger. They should also accept friend requests only from known people and hide their details on social media sites,” he said.