Social Media Crimes
The social media revolution has provided every willing person with many platforms to express themselves and share content. People share information related to their lives, their movements, their life choices and their families without considering withholding information which may be misused. As the number of people engaging social media grows by the minute, the vast deluge of data is a priceless source for cyber criminals to strategize and find the right victims to target.
Social media crimes statistics around the globe have become no less than a threat to the security of the individual and the organization. Social media crimes in India have been rising unabatedly, posing new challenges as cyber attacks keep evolving and mutating to new forms, using cutting edge technology to infiltrate and violate. Every country has been forced to view these networking crimes as a phenomenon which cannot be slighted and has to update its Internet Technology law in an attempt to protect its citizens and businesses by deterring, preventing and punishing cyber crimes. Police are now finding that cyber crimes rare events, and cyber crime divisions have been set up to specially investigate and resolve the ever growing number of crimes using internet.
Social media crime analysis shows that lack of awareness and negligence are the two main reasons which make it easy for cyber criminals to become successful in their malevolent intentions. “How to prevent social media crimes?” is one of the most asked questions on the internet with reference to social networking safety and security. Whilst we are aware the social media platforms very often help solve crimes, by becoming an important tool in crime investigation, we should never lose sight of the fact the social media is a double edged sword and often a dangerous media where internet criminals, operate unobtrusively under the mask of anonymity. Privacy is violated and sensitive data is misused to attack the victim to defame them, steal bank information, run scams, lure them into unsavory acts, hold them for ransom and every time of crime which has real time implications and often drastic effects on the attacked. Many times the victims prefer not to go to the police authorities when there are in a compromised situation, which make is even easier for the attackers to hold a more dominant position in the event.
It is very difficult for a lay person to keep abreast of the lightening speed developments in internet technology and the increasingly more sophisticated ways of scamming and deceiving people which are merging every day. It is very important to protect your sensitive personal, corporate and financial data with required privacy parameters and not share such information without twice affirming the source of the enquiry. Many times however, despite each and every precaution, you find yourself as a victim of cyber crime or cyber fraud and left to defend yourself in the best way possible to mitigate or reduce the damage and find relief from the harassment.
Researchers and social media scientists have confirmed that most of the cyber crimes go unfeatured. Most of the crimes of a cyber nature which are reported are of a violent or sexual nature, and of a huge financial quantum. Almost 1 out of 400 cyber crimes are featured in traditional media, and they are predominantly of a violent or sexual context (Chadee and Ditton, 2005). The reminders of the cases go unnoticed, because they will not titillate the readers’ senses.
What must you do when you are a victim of any cyber crime? The very first step to take is to seek the counsel of an experienced cyber crime lawyer who has as in-depth knowledge of cyber technology as of cyber law. If the cyber law firm has considerable experience of defending cyber crime victims, they would be armed with the detailed eye and insights required to represent you with sufficiency and protect your interests. We possess more than a decade of helping clients with all cyber related situations and our experience equips us with the discretion needed to use the law to the fullest to help you. We are very well informed of all the procedures which need to be executed with the police and government agencies with reference to cyber crime, and are in a position to ably guide and represent you.
Frequently targeted social media networks and messengers:
Cyber criminal communicates with an individual via social media
outlet Message contains link to fraudulent website or an attachment
which initiates an installation file
Cyber Threats to online social networks
•Trust
It is not uncommon for children to build up relationship with friends they do not know. The criminals here can steal money and information from their unsuspecting victim
.•Click Jacking
Click jacking is a malicious technique which tricks users into clicking on something different from what they intended to click.
•Cyber Bullying
Cyber bulling (also refer to as cyber abuse) can be in form of posting rumors or lies about the victim in a public forum, using text messages or emails to send threatening messages, uploading videos to YouTube that embarrass their victims or sharing the victim’s personal information in a public forum.
•Online Predators
The image of Internet predators in the media is of an adult man seducing and tempting innocent young boys and girls through the collection of personal data and the impersonation of being a friend to these youngsters, all the while hiding his sexual intentions until the actual meeting, which likely involves rape or kidnapping
•Spam & Obscene Content
The offenders are using the easiest way available to spread spams popularly through Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. The same platforms are also being used to publish/transmit obscene material
•Fake Social Media Profiles
Creating Fake profiles in someone else’s name for creating false impression about the person or For the purpose of committing a criminal activity by Impersonation.
•Cyber defamation
•Defaming any person, group, community, religion, organization using social networking.
•Posting defamatory posts on Social Networking Websites / Posting morphed photos on Social Networking Websites
•Defamatory posts on Political figures